On Wednesday as the US results started pouring in, it became clear that the Republican leader Donald Trump will be the new President of the United States. The outspoken billionaire will be the 47th President of the United States and will be assuming power by January, next year.
During a recent podcast with the most popular host Joe Rogan, Donald Trump stressed that his biggest mistake during his presidency (2016-2020) was hiring “disloyal people”. Against this backdrop, it is safe to assume that he will turn to prominent faces who helped him achieve this historic feat.
Strikingly, Trump has a strong core team that was part of his campaign, once he assumes power in January next year, it is expected that many of them will be getting major roles in his new-looking administration. While Elon Musk is tipped to be one of the major figures in the Trump cabinet, there are a few Indian-origin and Hindu politicians who are likely to get a place in Trump’s 2.0 administration.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur of Indian origin. A devout Hindu, Ramaswamy was born to Indian immigrants to the USA. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in biology, he studied law at Yale. Post his education Ramaswamy started his own pharmaceutical company Roviant Sciences. In February 2023, Ramaswamy declared his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination in the 2024 United States presidential election. After ending up fourth in the then-Iowa caucus, Ramaswamy announced his endorsement of Donald Trump as the next President of the USA.
While many candidates openly criticized Donald Trump throughout his ongoing legal battles, Ramaswamy regularly defended Trump. He had also shared the podium with Trump at his rallies and been an active part of his campaign. Donald Trump had also praised Ramaswamy for saying ‘only…good things about me’. The two men have had several meetings, and it is expected that Ramaswamy will be getting a key role in the Trump administration.
Usha Vance
Usha Vance born as Usha Chilukuri is an American born to Indian immigrant parents. She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in history and from Yale Law School with a Juris Doctor degree. In 2019, Vance was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and subsequently worked for a leading law firm handling civil litigation. She resigned from her law firm job in July 2024. Usha married author and politician James D. Vance in 2014.
JD Vance is the running mate and the next Vice President of the United States. At the Republican National Convention in July 2024, Usha Vance delivered the introductory address for her husband, JD Vance. Since then, she has been an advisor to her husband and often travels with him to campaign events, occasionally appearing onstage with him. After Donald Trump’s electoral triumph in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Usha Vance will assume office in the role of Second Lady of the United States in January 2025.
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician and United States Army Reserve officer. Gabbard is of European and Samoan ancestry and was raised in a multicultural household. After moving to Hawaii, Gabbard’s mother became interested in Hinduism and gave Hindu names to all her children. Gabbard’s given name, “Tulsi” in Sanskrit, is the word for holy basil. She was raised in the Vaishnava Hindu tradition and is also connected with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Gabbard is a conservative political commentator who served as U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. She became the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress. She ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries with her campaign for the 2020 presidential election. She left the Democratic Party in October 2022 to become an independent.
On August 26, Gabbard endorsed former President Trump’s re-election bid, during a gathering in Michigan. The next day, Gabbard was named as an honorary co-chair of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team, alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and JD Vance. Gabbard announced she was joining the Republican Party on October 22 during a Trump rally in North Carolina.
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina, to immigrant Sikh parents from Punjab, India. She was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004 and served three terms. She was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010, making her the state’s first female governor and the second U.S. governor of Indian descent.
She was a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries. Her victory in the Washington, D.C. primary on March 3, 2024, made her the first woman ever to win a Republican Party presidential primary contest. Under the previous term of Donald Trump, Nikki Haley served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 2017.
Shalabh Kumar
Punjab-born Shalabh Kumar is a Chicago-based Indian-American industrialist and political donor affiliated with the Republican Party. Kumar was one of the prominent financial donors for Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign. He also backs a number of pro-Hindu lobbies. In 2014, Kumar worked with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to encourage Indian Americans to run for office and get involved politically. He was also named Chairman of the Indian American Advisory Council for the House Republican Conference.
Kumar has organized meetings between American and Indian politicians. He has described Modi as his idol. Kumar was one of the faces behind the Modi-Trump mega meets of Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump. He recently announced putting up over 1 million dollars in Donald Trump’s campaign. Kumar is expected to remain as a major advisory figure for the Donald Trump government.
