Featured Image Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump
William Morgan
President Trump has surrounded himself with a number of powerful female figures since returning to the White House, with some being his most vocal supporters, while others quietly wield their power behind the scenes.
It would be fair to say that the 45th and 47th President of the United States has a complicated history with women, with scandals relating to his treatment of half the population plaguing Trump from his first campaign to his second term in office.
And yet, the release of the 'grab them by the p*ssy' tape did little to stymie Trump's presidential bid in 2016, nor did his 2023 conviction by a civil court of sexual assault stop his re-election a year later.
Most importantly, neither of these scandals put off the large coterie of female MAGA devotees that have filled his cabinet, making up a third of all appointees as he began his second term. Though with recent shake-ups, this has now fallen to just 19 percent.
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Not all of the women who have been appointed to Trump's cabinet have survive the last 16 months however.
In recent months, divisive figures like Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem have been let go after stirring up too much controversy, or failing to follow through on the president's agenda.
Those remaining in post have threaded the needle of his second term, managing to avoid taking too much of Trump's limelight, while quietly pushing through his agenda behind the scenes.
Arguably the most powerful woman in America, if not on planet Earth, is Susie Wiles. That's because she was appointed as President Trump's chief of staff when he assumed office in January 2025, after co-running his election campaign and helping to coordinate Trump's actions out of office.
Ahead of the 2024 election, 68-year-old Wiles also spoke publicly to defend her boss against accusations of sexism leveled by Mark Cuban, who said that Trump doesn't like to be challenged by 'strong, intelligent women'.
In a rare public message, Wiles said: "I'm told @mcuban needs help identifying the strong and intelligent women surrounding Pres. Trump. Well, here we are! I've been proud to lead this campaign."
The former lobbyist is the first woman, ever, to serve as chief of staff to any President of the United States. She also revealed last month that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, causing her boss to share a message of support.
"Susie, as one of my closest and most important advisors, is tough and deeply committed to serving the American People," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "She will soon be better than ever!"
There are few political operatives like Tulsi Gabbard. She is someone who has served in Iraq and Kuwait, as well as on the board of the Democratic National Committee as vice chair - even running to head the presidential ticket in the 2020 primaries.
While she probably remembers her time in the Middle East more fondly than her time fighting with the Democratic machine, her ideological shift from backing Bernie Sanders in 2016 to getting behind Trump in 2024 is one of the most extreme 180s in modern politics.
The former Hawaii congresswoman became Trump's Director of National Intelligence when he came to power in January 2025, joining fellow former Democrat RFK Jr. in recognizing the new center of power in American politics.
However, the prominent anti-interventionist who slammed the Obama-era decision to become involved in the Syrian Civil War, has been quiet in recent months, following President Trump and Israel's decision to begin a 'military operation' against Iran.
“A war with Iran would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk,” she told Fox News in May 2019. “The devastation and the cost would be far greater than anything they’ve ever experienced.”
The former CEO of one of the biggest American success stories in the world of entertainment, the WWE, was one of the surprise appointment when Trump started his second term.
Linda McMahon is a face familiar to millions of wrestling fans around the world, with storylines from the WWE's golden era including her supposedly being in a 'catatonic' state for several months, awakening only to kick husband Vince in the groin and make him lose a match.
While many were unsure if this qualified McMahon to be the Secretary of Education, she did spend a year on Connecticut's Board of Education in 2009-2010. But as with many of the women in Trump's cabinet, her loyalty was a major qualifier.
And that loyalty is important, as the president has repeatedly stated his intention to abolish the Department of Education, which he has called a 'one-stop shop for the woke cartel'.
McMahon has confirmed this herself, saying in a radio interview that President Trump is 'dead serious about the fact that he wants me to fire myself.'
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt became the youngest person to ever occupy the key position when President Trump made her his chief spokesperson last year, aged just 27.
It was not her first foray into political communications, having first worked in White House PR after graduating in 2019, later becoming an assistant White House press secretary to Kayleigh McEnany in the dying days of Trump's first term in office.
But her rapid ascension to the top job in White House comms came during the president's second campaign for a second term in 2024, when she served as his national press secretary.
Since taking over the role, which has had a high turnover in the past, Leavitt has stamped her mark while being at the forefront of Trump's even more bullish second term, castigating members of the Washington press corps for perceived biases and platforming small conservative outlets.
Leavitt gave birth to her first child in July of last year, but only took four days off in the aftermath of the major life event.
She said of working for Trump: "He doesn't care if you're a man or a woman, with kids or no kids. He just wants the hardest worker and the best person for the job. And that's what makes him a great boss."
One of the female figures in Trump's inner circle that often flies under the radar is Alina Habba, who first served as Counselor to the President, essentially a top adviser, but left the administration after a few months to become the interim US attorney for the District of New Jersey.
These high-profile appointments to various parts of Trump's administration followed her work for the president during the four years he was out of office, variously advising or representing the president on some of his most controversial legal actions.
That includes suing the New York Times, leading the failed charge to prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from investigating Trump, which saw Habba conduct a lengthy cross-examination of the president's former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Announcing her new interim role as the top lawyer in New Jersey, Habba said on X: "I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility.
"Just like I did during my time as President Trump's personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all."
In February of this year, Habba divorced her husband of six years and moved into a Palm Beach mansion, just around the corner from Trump's Mar a Lago resort.