(WASHINGTON D.C.)– Multiple names have been floated as the potential next Secretary of Agriculture under the incoming Trump Administration. New reporting suggests that more names have been added to that list.
House Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson is among those being considered for agriculture secretary in the next Trump administration, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking. Politico reports the Pennsylvania Republican, who developed closer ties to Trump during the president-elect’s many campaign visits to the Keystone State, offers deep knowledge of agriculture policy. The Trump transition team neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of tapping Thompson.
“President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon. Those decisions will be announced when they are made,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
Other names that have been reportedly added to the list according to Politico include Sarah Frey and Charles Herbster. Frey, who is founder of Frey Farms, has the nickname of “America’s Pumpkin Queen” as her company is the leading source of pumpkins in the country. Herbster meantime, is a longtime Trump ally who ran his 2024 campaign’s rural coalition and owns a beef cattle farm in Nebraska.
Other names that have been mentioned on the list include:
-Former Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs Ted McKinney
-Kip Tom, formerly U.S. ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture
-Former White House ag advisor Ray Starling
-Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky
-Former House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway of Texas
-Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller
-Abel Maldonado, former Lieutenant Governor of California and experienced agricultural businessman
-American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall
-North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
-Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi
-Gregg Doud, former chief ag negotiator and current President and CEO of National Milk Producers Federation
