Donald Trump has nominated Linda McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and his transition co-chair, as his pick for education secretary.
A long-time ally of Trump, McMahon previously served as head of the Small Business Administration during his first presidency and has contributed millions to his campaign efforts.
In an announcement on Truth Social, Trump praised McMahon’s “decades of leadership experience and deep understanding of both Education and Business,” stating she would work to “empower the next generation of American students and workers.”
Trump, who has been critical of the Department of Education, has pledged to shut it down—a task McMahon could potentially oversee.
Her nomination follows Trump’s selection of Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor and former TV host, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary.
These appointments reflect Trump’s trend of nominating loyal supporters to prominent cabinet positions.
McMahon, who co-founded WWE with her husband in 1980, has longstanding ties to both wrestling and Trump, who made occasional appearances at WWE events.
She stepped down as WWE CEO in 2009 to pursue an unsuccessful Senate bid.
Although McMahon has limited experience in education, she served on Connecticut’s state board of education from 2009 to 2010. She also chairs the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank, making her confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate highly likely.
“For the past four years, as the Chair of the Board at the America First Policy Institute, Linda has been a fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights,” Trump said in his statement.
He said McMahon would “spearhead” the effort to “send Education BACK TO THE STATES”, in reference to his pledge to close the department.
McMahon was named in a lawsuit filed last month involving the WWE.
It alleges that she, her husband and other company leaders knowingly allowed young boys to be abused by a ringside announcer who died in 2012.
The McMahons deny wrongdoing. A lawyer representing the pair told USA Today Sports that the allegations are “false claims” that stem from “absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless” media reports.
Celebrity TV doctor picked to run Medicaid
Donald Trump recently appointed Mehmet Oz to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a key agency responsible for overseeing healthcare for millions of Americans.
Oz, a trained surgeon, rose to prominence in the early 2000s after appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show and later hosting his own television program.
However, Oz has faced criticism from health experts for endorsing controversial weight loss drugs and so-called “miracle” cures. He also drew backlash for advocating the use of malaria drugs as a treatment for Covid-19 during the pandemic’s early stages.
“There may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement
The Trump transition team said in a statement that Oz “will work closely with [Health Secretary nominee] Robert F Kennedy Jr to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake”.
Oz will need to be confirmed by the Senate next year before he officially takes charge of the agency.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services oversee the country’s largest healthcare programs, providing coverage to more than 150 million Americans. The agency regulates health insurance and sets policy that guides the prices that doctors, hospitals and drug companies are paid for medical services.
In 2023, the U.S. government allocated over $1.4 trillion to Medicaid and Medicare, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Donald Trump, in a statement, announced Mehmet Oz as his pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pledging that Oz would “cut waste and fraud within our country’s most expensive government agency.” The Republican Party platform also emphasized plans to boost transparency, choice, and competition while expanding access to healthcare and prescription drugs.
Oz, 64, is a trained cardiothoracic surgeon specializing in heart and lung operations. He previously worked at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University in New York City.
After frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oz launched The Dr. Oz Show, where he provided health advice to millions of viewers.
But the line between promotion and science on the show was not always clear, and Oz has recommended homeopathy, alternative medicine and other treatments that critics have called “pseudoscience”.
He was criticised during Senate hearings in 2014 for endorsing unproven pills that he said would “literally flush fat from your system” and “push fat from your belly”.
During those hearings Oz said he never sold any specific dietary supplements on his show. But he has publicly endorsed products off air and his financial ties to health care companies were revealed in fillings made during his 2022 run for the US Senate in Pennsylvania.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Oz promoted the anti-malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which experts say are ineffective against the virus.