The VP position is largely political. It is the person that is on deck if the POTUS is unable to perform his/her duties. The only time the VP ever really gets to play is if the Senate is deadlocked at 50/50 and the VP becomes the tie breaking vote.

As for the people he is nominating for positions, I don’t believe they are necessarily being chosen only because they are friends. That does play into it, but is not the only reason. Trump is a businessman and is approaching the job from that point of view. A CEO will look at a company, layout a vision and a plan for how to run the company. He will then choose people he believes are both in line with the vision and plan and who are best capable to do the jobs. I doubt “job and salary” play much into it. Many of his selections are already well off and have jobs and salaries.

Trump’s first term, by his own admission, was a huge learning curve. He got elected and found out he had to appoint something like 100 direct reports that would then have to hire something like 100 supporters each…all of which were officially “Trump Nominees”. When he started trying to fill those positions he was in uncharted waters. He had some people he had met that were making recommendations and others that he hadn’t met that were making recommendations. As a result he ended up hiring a whole lot of people that were actually working against him. This time he knows they systems and how they work and he isn’t relying on random recommendations. He is choosing people that he knows very well, who are in agreement with his vision and plan. It should be a much better base of people.

As for will his nominees get approved? I suspect many will. If the Dems held the Senate still I would say they wouldn’t. The Dems would shoot down or try to shoot down anyone he selected. It’s what Dems do. Do any of them cause me concern? Not really so far. There are some I don’t know much about. Vance made me a bit nervous as a VP pick. I find it odd that someone can go from nothing to top of the heap in just a couple years. Obama did that and I thought he was a snake. Vance has done that too. So it just made me nervous. He seems okay so far, but time will tell. I do expect that some of the selections will fall short of what a home run would be, but at this point if they can get a hit, I’ll consider it a win.

@JLeslie
Oh, it does matter to him.
But you need to understand that competence is not a factor for the Orangutan.
The only thing that matters is loyalty. You should have learned that during his first term: A cabinet of mostly incompetents, partially from his own family, who got axed and then slandered as soon as they stepped out of line.
And he is doubling down on the incompetence, while adding in a splash of “own the libs” by picking sex offenders and puppy killers.

@ragingloli I know loyalty is a huge factor for him. I’m seeing even Democrats in government saying we will still have the people in the departments who do have a strong knowledge base. Trying to be more reassuring than anything I guess, even if they think Trump’s pick is terrible. Some more terrible than others. Matt Gaetz is the one that people are freaking out the most, and for good reason in my opinion.

@JLeslie “I’m seeing even Democrats in government saying we will still have the people in the departments who do have a strong knowledge base.” – and through enacting Project 2025, those will be purged and replaced by MAGA loyalists.

@ragingloli That’s the fear of course. The Christian Dominionists Billionaires finally getting control of the government. They certainly want the control. People keep using the word autocracy, but I think theocracy is really the dominant goal.

@JLeslie Other words applicable are kleptocracy and kakocracy.

@ragingloli I looked up Kakocracy. I agree. Thanks for teaching me a new word.

If this present term is going to be anything like the previous term that Trump served, once these people piss him off or don’t fall in line with exactly how he likes things, they’ll be out and replaced like pieces on a chess board. They’d better kiss his ass, buy him Christmas presents, do as he says and not how he does, jump when he says jump and maybe they’ll last more than a year.

Due to the ages of Biden and trump, I think the VP is more important now than ever. I think in the past they were pretty much figureheads. But now, they might have to step in as president at a moments notice.

Just the opposite. He wants to have his underlings be beholden to him. They won’t be independent thinkers; he will be the lord and master. And bestow favors (money, women, travel) on them.

He chooses them not by merit, but by who will pay him homage and bow at his feet.

@seawulf575 If the Dems held the Senate still I would say they wouldn’t. The Dems would shoot down or try to shoot down anyone he selected. It’s what Dems do.

Let’s get real here – republicans aren’t so innocent and they do it too. BOTH parties do it. It’s one of the many chess board games that politicians play.

@chyna I wasn’t really addressing what the BO does, but anyway Trump mentioning it wasn’t about stepping in if the President can’t perform his duties anymore. He’s talking about getting elected and while the VP is the VP. Like what @seawulf575 wrote, although ironically Trumpers were quick to say Kamala didn’t do anything as VP. Most VP’s don’t.

If they do a bad job, make Trump look bad or disagrees with him…they’re out. These are all rotational/temp positions.

@smudges Yes, both parties do challenge the other’s nominations. That is a fact. But look at what Dems did to Kavanaugh or even Barrett. And besides, the question was about whether Trump cared or not who he nominated. So the opposition would, of course, be the Dems.

@Blackwater_Park If they do a bad job or start going against the plan Trump has they will certainly be gone. But to be honest, even the POTUS job is supposed to be a temp job as are all the seats in Congress.

BO. Lol. VP. Sorry about that.

@JLeslie Most VPs don’t do anything. Kamala actually did one thing: she passed into law the IRA which added to the inflation. It was something she fought hard to distance herself from during the campaign for POTUS. What we DID say she did nothing on was the border. She was tasked with helping fix the border issues. She did nothing. She claims to have done a bunch in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela but is so hard pressed to show an actual deliverable that help reduce the flow of illegals entering the country that she didn’t even really claim that during the campaign.

It’s as if Putin had made the list of appointees with the aim of destroying the United States.

@flutherother he probably did

I think he does. In most cases he does prioritize loyalty, but if the person is also (for good reason) someone who pisses off the liberals too that’s a “YUGE” bonus.

The operative phrase here is that Trump has no ability to think at all.

If your aim is to dismantle government and create chaos, repay debts while keeping people beholden to you, and playing up your role as red America’s middle finger to the system…these are great picks.

It’s a political temper tantrum playing out like onion articles.