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Donald Trump Jr has said that he wants “veto power” over hiring decisions to weed out the “bad actors” if his father wins a second term in the White House, according to a report.
The former president’s eldest son made the comments during an Axios event at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. Trump Jr said while he doesn’t want a role for himself in a possible second Trump administration, he does want the power to “block the bad actors.”
“I don’t want to pick a single person for a position of power, all I want to do is block the guys that would be a disaster,” he told the outlet.
“I want to block the liars, I want to block the guys that are pretending they’re with you,” he added.
Trump Jr went on to say, “You guys pick the guy that’s right, I want a veto power to cut out each and every one of those people.”
He added one of the advantages of a second Trump term would be that “now we know” who may serve in the administration.
Trump Jr has previously argued on behalf of Republicans he supports, such as backing JD Vance as the vice presidential nominee.
Axios reported earlier this year that Trump Jr and Eric Trump have taken on significant roles in the planning for a possible second term. If Trump wins, the brothers are reportedly set to serve on the transition team checking prospective officials and members of staff for loyalty and ideology.
While neither of them would officially be the head of the transition, they would have key roles in making sure that jobs are staffed by people who agree with Trump regarding the future of the Republican Party.
One source told Axios that Trump Jr’s goal is to keep figures such as former National Security Advisor John Bolton out of the administration. After his time in the White House, Bolton wrote a book criticizing Trump.
Trump Jr has reportedly been annoyed at the Heritage Foundation for saying that they’re leading the efforts to vet possible appointees.
The foundation has been working to vet possible appointees to the cabinet as well as lower staff positions, all in an effort to help Trump change the government at the core and to try to avoid the pushback he faced in his first term from civil servants and some Republicans during his time in office.
However, any transition team would likely have to rely on the work of outside groups when making appointments.
The Trump family has recently taken a more active role in fully taking over the Republican Party, such as the appointment of Lara Trump as the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
