Peter Navarro served prison time related to Jan. 6. Now Trump is bringing him back as an adviser
Former White House adviser Peter Navarro, who served prison time related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, will return to serve in Donald Trump鈥檚 second administration, the president-elect announced Wednesday.
Navarro, a trade adviser during Trump鈥檚 first term, will be a senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, Trump said on Truth Social. The position, Trump wrote, 鈥渓everages Peter鈥檚 broad range of White House experience, while harnessing his extensive Policy analytic and Media skills.鈥�
The appointment was only the first in a flurry of announcements that Trump made on Wednesday as his presidential transition faced controversy over Pete Hegseth, Trump鈥檚 choice for Pentagon chief. Hegseth faces allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement, and Trump has considered replacing him with another potential nominee.
As he works to fill out his team, Trump said he wanted Paul Atkins, a financial industry veteran and an advocate for cryptocurrency, to serve as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He wrote on Truth Social that Atkins 鈥渞ecognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.鈥�
Trump also said he was changing course on his choice for White House counsel. He said his original pick, William McGinley, will work with the Department of Government Efficiency, which will be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy with the goal of cutting federal spending. Now David Warrington, who has worked as Trump鈥檚 personal lawyer and a lawyer for his campaign, will serve as White House counsel.
In addition, Trump announced the selections of former Rep. Billy Long of Missouri as IRS commissioner; the CEO of financial technology company Fiserv, Frank Bisignano, as Social Security Administration commissioner; former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia to lead the Small Business Administration; Daniel Driscoll, an Army veteran who was a senior adviser to Vice President-elect JD Vance, as Army secretary; , a tech billionaire who conducted the first private spacewalk on Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket, as ; and Adam Boehler, a lead negotiator on the Abraham Accords team, as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
Navarro was for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated Jan. 6. Sentenced to four months in prison, he described his conviction as the 鈥減artisan weaponization of the judicial system.鈥�
Hours after his release in July, at the Republican National Convention, where he told the crowd that 鈥淚 went to prison so you won鈥檛 have to."
Navarro, 75, has been a longtime critic of trade arrangements with China. After earning an economics doctorate from Harvard University, he worked as an economics and public policy professor at the University of California, Irvine. He ran for mayor of San Diego in 1992 and lost, only to launch other unsuccessful campaign efforts, including a 1996 race for Congress as a Democrat.
During Trump鈥檚 initial term, Navarro pushed aggressively for tariffs while playing down the risks of triggering a broader trade war. He also focused on counterfeited imports and even helped assemble an infrastructure plan for Trump that never came to fruition.
Navarro often used fiery language that upset U.S. allies. In 2018, after a dispute between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Navarro said 鈥渢here鈥檚 a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.鈥�
Canadians were outraged, and Navarro later apologized.
Issacman has reserved two more flights with SpaceX, including as the commander of the first crew that will ride SpaceX鈥檚 mega rocket Starship, still in test flights out of Texas. He said he was honored to be nominated.
鈥淗aving been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history,鈥� he said via X.
Trump kept rolling out positions on Wednesday afternoon. He announced Gail Slater as assistant attorney general for the Justice Department鈥檚 antitrust division. Trump wrote on Truth Social that 鈥淏ig Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector.鈥�
Slater worked for Trump鈥檚 National Economic Council during his first term, and she's been an adviser to Vance.
Trump also said Michael Faulkender would serve as deputy treasury secretary. A professor at the University of Maryland鈥檚 Smith School of Business, Faulkender was the Treasury Department鈥檚 assistant secretary for economic policy during Trump鈥檚 initial term. He has also been the chief economist at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank formed to further the Trump movement鈥檚 policy agenda.
Outside the White House, Trump said that he had asked Michael Whatley to remain on as chair of the Republican National Committee. during the election along with Lara Trump, the wife of Trump鈥檚 son Eric.
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AP Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington and Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.