President-elect Donald Trump made a new wave job advertisements Tuesday, choosing Andrew Ferguson as the next chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Ronald Johnson was appointed ambassador to Mexico and Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece.
Trump is also expected to choose Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as ambassador to Italy, CBS News has learned.
Ferguson, who is already one of five FTC commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars in company acquisitions and taking Amazon and Meta to court alleging anticompetitive behavior.
“Andrew has a proven track record of standing up to big tech censorship and protecting free speech in our great country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “Andrew will be the longest-serving FTC Chairman American and pro-innovation in our country.
Fertitta, meanwhile, the billionaire CEO of hotel group Landry’s, Inc., is Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to Italy, people familiar with the decision told CBS News on Tuesday. Trump transition officials declined to comment.
Fertitta is a Trump friend and longtime Republican Party donor who runs Landry’s Inc., a Texas-based company with hotels, restaurants and casinos. He starred in a CNBC reality TV show called “Billion Dollar Buyer” and owns more than 600 properties in 36 states and more than 15 countries, according to the company’s website, including the iconic Golden Nugget Casino, Morton’s The Steakhouse, the Palm Restaurant and Joe’s Crab Shack.
Fertitta joined Trump, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for the launch of a Starship rocket in Texas in November.
Tom Barrack has been chosen as a candidate for ambassador to Türkiye. Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the famous Plaza Hotel. He was accused of using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all charges in a 2022 federal trial.
Trump called him “a highly respected and experienced voice of reason.”
Johnson – not the Republican senator – served as ambassador to El Salvador during the first Trump administration. His appointment comes as the president-elect was threatening customs tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass expulsion of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and worked at the Central Intelligence Agency.
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Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump has called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “acute intellect which makes her extremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night.
“I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and has always wanted to serve the country as an ambassador. She will be an incredible leader for America First,” Don Jr posted.
Ambassadorial positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate.
Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination as the next ambassador to Greece and I look forward to winning the support of the United States Senate.”
Trump also announced Tuesday that he had chosen Jacob Helberg as the next undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, and Dan Bishop as deputy budget director at the Office of Budget and Finance. management.
Khan’s replacement at the FTC likely means the commission will operate with a lighter touch when it comes to antitrust enforcement. The new president is expected to appoint new directors of the FTC’s antitrust and consumer protection divisions.
“These changes will likely make the FTC more business-friendly than it has been in recent years, although the extent remains to be determined,” wrote Anthony DiResta, a consumer protection attorney at Holland & Knight, in a recent analysis.
Deals blocked by the Biden administration could find new life under Trump’s leadership.
For example, the new management could be more open to proposed merger between the nation’s two largest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, who reached a $24.6 billion deal to combine in 2022. Two judges stopped the merger Tuesday evening.
The FTC had filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this year to block the merger, saying the deal would eliminate competition, leading to higher prices and lower wages for workers. Both companies say a merger would help them lower prices and compete with larger rivals like Walmart.
One of the judges said the FTC had shown it had a strong chance of prevailing in the administrative hearing.
Still, given widespread public concern over high food prices, the Trump administration may not completely abandon the FTC’s efforts to block the deal, some experts said.
And the FTC could continue to monitor big tech companies for anticompetitive behavior. Many Republican politicians have accused companies such as Meta of censoring conservative views, and some officials in Trump’s orbit, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, have previously expressed support for Khan’s scrutiny of large technology companies.
contributed to this report.
