There are about 4,000 political appointees in the Executive branch, 1,200 of which have to be confirmed in office by the Senate. The confirmation power gives the Senate input in controlling staffing in a presidential administration.

Trump and his transition team do not know 1,200 people, much less 4,000. Desperate to get a government underway, their inquiries will result in input from many sources, especially from the ruling establishment. At best a president and transition team can only focus on a few key areas where the president's key agendas are. Even here Trump is not doing a great job.

Let's start with the war front. Trump has said he can immediately stop the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran war in the Middle East. But Trump's appointees to US Ambassador to the UN, National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, US Ambassador to Israel, and Secretary of Defense are war hawks. UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik is a warmonger for Israel. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has called for enforcing the energy sanctions on Russia and taking the handcuffs off long-range missiles provided to Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a warmonger.  Trump has appointed Mike Huckabee US Ambassador to Israel to the great delight of Israeli extremists.  Huckabee has said that Israel has title to Palestine. Trump has appointed Steven Witkoff Special Envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff who is Jewish is tasked with dealing with the Iranian threat, the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel–Hezbollah fighting, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

For Defense Secretary Trump has chosen Fox News co-host and commentator Pete Hegseth, a non-Woke masculine man without faith in a DEI military.  The downside is that he believes in the official narratives constructed by the military/security complex and neoconservatives of America's Russian, Chinese, and Iranian enemies.  He describes Iran as "an evil regime" and wants to modernize the US military so that it is a match for China's.  It seems we are in for a rise in the defense budget and no closed bases, an obstacle to Musk's plan to cut $2.5 trillion from the budget.  Together with Stefanik, Waltz, and Rubio, Hegseth gives Trump a quattro for war.  Do any of these Trump appointees  have the flexibility to see the Russian, Iranian, Chinese, and Palestinian point of view?