Trump nominees told not to post on social media without approval

President-elect Donald Trump’s chief of staff told incoming administration officials to refrain from posting on social media without prior approval of the incoming White House counsel. The message was obtained by the New York Post, which reported Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles also told everyone she appreciates how enthusiastic they are. 

“I am reiterating that no member of the incoming administration or Transition speaks for the United States or the President-elect himself,” Wiles told nominees. 

A transition source told the Post that the memo was not a response to a recent controversy involving Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy regarding H-1B visas. The incoming co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency said the American workforce doesn’t have enough qualified workers to fill high-skill technical positions, forcing companies to bring in workers from other countries.

Musk said the U.S. needs more than 300,000 engineers immediately to boost America’s semiconductor industry. 

“The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk added.

No, we need more like double that number yesterday!

The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.

Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever…

— Kekius Maximus (@elonmusk) December 25, 2024

Ramaswamy said it was a problem with American culture that celebrates the jock over the valedictorian.

“‘Normalcy’ doesn’t cut it in a hyper-competitive global market for technical talent. And if we pretend like it does, we’ll have our asses handed to us by China,” he posted on X.

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

The transition source told the Post that the memo “was a reminder of the guidance to intended nominees as confirmation hearings get underway next week.” 

Multiple Trump cabinet nominees are expected to have challenging confirmation hearings due to their past statements and actions. That includes Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for director of National Intelligence and Kash Patel for FBI director.