President-elect Donald Trump, moving to complete formation of his Cabinet and decide other key administration posts, chose former campaign rival Ben Carson on Monday to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Trump’s decision, announced by his transition office, comes as the real estate mogul continues a series of interviews, meetings with aides and other deliberations aimed at forming his administration and following his announcement of several Cabinet appointees last week.
In a statement, Trump said he was “thrilled to nominate” Carson, describing the retired neurosurgeon as having “a brilliant mind” and saying he “is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities.”
Carson had been coy about joining the new administration, saying shortly after Trump’s election victory that he wasn’t certain he’d fit into a Cabinet-style role. The discussion at that time centered on speculation that Carson might be selected to head the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services.
“Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country,” Trump said, “and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans.”
Carson was among the 16 Republican candidates who challenged Trump for the Republican nomination. He was a favorite of religious conservatives and a strong fundraiser, but his team burned through money quickly and he failed to win any of the early primary contests.
Trump treated Carson harshly during the primary, saying he had a “pathological temper.” Still, Carson quickly endorsed Trump after he dropped out of the contest.
As a Trump supporter, Carson was both loyal and critical. He conceded that Trump had “major defects” and said at one point that he would have preferred a scenario other than Trump winning the Republican primary.
Last week, Trump announced that he planned to nominate former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as his Treasury secretary and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to lead the Commerce Department. He chose Betsy DeVos to be secretary of education and Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, to be transportation secretary. Trump also has turned to retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be secretary of defense.
He now has expanded his pool of candidates for secretary of state, raising a question about whether former CIA Director David Petraeus’ guilty plea for leaking classified information disqualifies him to serve as the nation’s top diplomat.
The remark came a week after Trump’s aides confirmed that the president-elect had settled on four finalists for the post. Two people close to the transition tell The Associated Press that Trump is moving away from two of the four: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
That would leave Petraeus as a top contender, along with Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both people close to the transition said Trump’s prolonged decision-making process has left the door open to other options. Among other possibilities, one official says is Jon Huntsman, a former Republican Utah governor who also served as the ambassador to China and speaks Mandarin.
The people close to the transition spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private process publicly.
Carson, his choice for housing secretary, has often recounted his childhood as the son of a single mother in inner-city Detroit in his books and motivational speeches. In his 1996 autobiography “Gifted Hands,” Carson wrote of the humiliation he felt using food stamps from his mom to pay for bread and milk, and said how he began to excel at school only after receiving a free pair of glasses that allowed him to see the lessons written on chalk boards.
Carson has not said whether his family ever lived in federally-funded housing or received Section 8 subsidies to help pay rent. But as a political figure he has criticized such public assistance programs for creating “dependency” on the government among low-income minorities.
“I’m interested in getting rid of dependency, and I want us to find a way to allow people to excel in our society, and as more and more people hear that message, they will recognize who is truly on their side and who is trying to keep them suppressed and cultivate their votes,” Carson said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015.
With the help of financial aid and scholarships, Carson attended Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School before being the first African-American named as the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. There he garnered national acclaim for directing the first surgery to separate twins connected at the back of the head.
Carson’s rise to political prominence began with a 2013 speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he gave a withering critique of the modern welfare state and the nation’s overall direction while President Barack Obama was seated just feet away. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Carson’s inspirational life story, Christian faith and anti-establishment message briefly catapulted him last year ahead of Trump and other rivals in opinion polls.
But his success on the campaign trail quickly crumbled amid questions about whether elements of his rags-to-riches autobiography were exaggerated or fabricated — including a purported childhood fit of rage in which he tried to stab his best friend in the belly only to be foiled by a belt buckle. Carson’s business dealings also faced scrutiny, including his ties to a wealthy Pittsburgh dentist whom he helped avoid prison time for felony health care fraud.
The Associated Press first reported last year that Carson invested millions of dollars in real estate deals with Alfonso A. Costa, whose dentistry license was revoked following a felony conviction. According to required financial disclosure forms he filed in 2015, Carson and his wife made between $200,000 and $2 million a year from those real estate investments. Costa also served on the board of Carson’s charity, the Carson Scholars Fund, which provides college scholarships to children in need.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Excellent pick, hope to see Carson in the Presidency down 8yrs from now 🙂
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
And the liberals couldn’t say a thing bad about Dr. Carson, because that would make them racists by their own definition, wouldn’t it? !!
NOT so! Remember how they savaged Herman Cain? Carson would be no different. These people are a soul-less lot.
Carson is special. Who else could do brain surgery on democrats? Possibly go in through the rectum
Hey, Richard Schwartz – the hard part about brain surgery on a Democrap is finding the brain.
It’s easy to find a DemonicRats Brain, Just pull their head out of their Rectum
Your comment on Ben Carson made me laugh out loud. Very, very funny. I do agree, though do you really think he would find anything up there?
Schwarts,We’re you a CFO for a Major Corp. American Brands Umbrella….
Herman Cain would have made a Great President , they all knew it. That’s why they said and did what they did , to get rid of him. I wish he had fought them tooth and nail !! He would have been a little like Trump…Drain the Swamp of all the corruption.!!
Norm Fishler;;;;not only soulless, but braindead and hateful. How could anyone support that evil woman???
This time Trump got lucky after being accused of groping several women. Next time big businesses, Repubs and TPs will jointly fight him. I have nothing against Trump; his problem is that every time he opens his twitter or mouth, something stale comes out. Well, Michelle Obama will be waiting at the WH door in 2020. You did not see Michelle Obama polls vs Trump today. Michelle is scoring 81% to Trump 18%.
If Micky does get elected this country will be in worse hands than it has been under Obumma!
Amen, get rid of the Obamas, she is a true and proven hater of white people. Both of them are muslims and if you aren’t one they could care less about you.
And we should believe the polls? No, and to Michele hell no.
Michael will NEVER be a president.
Ooh, crapola .. what are you smokin’?
What is it with you morons thinking that America hating bitch has any qualifications to run for anything, never mind president?
At least hildabeast was involved in trying to get a health care bill passed while first lady, became a senator before her first run and secretary of state before her second.
I swear you progressive morons are actually getting more retarded daily, that shit must really be related to a brain disease!
Mkina-
i could care less about how Mooseshelle is polling v Trump. She didn’t run for squat, didn’t WIN squat, and says she won’t be RUNNING for squat – except for her life, once Americans demand all the money she spent on vacations back!
As far as i’m concerned, “she”(if that’s what it was born as) is an impostor and fraud, just like her husband, one who was video’d saying “All this for a g-damned flag?” into D’OweBama’s ear during a Flag Day commemoration.
She’s a useless, wastrel, spendthrift POS who belongs in PRISON.
Whomever did this alleged “polling” must have targeted ONLY brain-dead demoncrats in order to get such skewed – and screwy – results.
Yes, excellent choice, may they all be as good.
I like this Man and hope that He except the Nomination.He would be Asset to the Governmant.
Agree. Carson in 8 years would be wonderful so would Pence.
Now wouldn’t that be something! a complete end around run – a Black Republican who, by then, will be fully qualified!
As a Southerner I could not be more delighted and hope that this stepping stone will take Dr. Carson all the way! I know I was not the only one who preferred Dr. Carson at the beginning and I continued to say that he would surround himself with smart people who can do the job!
President Carson has a good sound to it to this Georgia girl’s ears!
I agree and was supporting Ben early in his candidacy. Glad Trump sees the value in placing Carson in this position and pray he does well —
Great addition to the cabinet.
At least he is quietly attaining people who know what they are doing & have a head on their shoulders….Unlike what we currently have in Canada. Go Trump go!
Absolutely! !
Agree !
Trump could not have picked a better person ! So happy for Mr. carson. He will be a honest leader and do whats right for all Americans.
Ben Carson is a great choice!
I tried and tried some twenty times to sign up for the Genius Pills and got the same thing over and over. The best I was able to do was my first name.
I think that it is interesting that these well known figures ,who will be in trump’s cabinet, have skeletons in their closets. For example. Trump with three wives, one of whom has a questionable background, and a yard child by Marlo Maples. Guiliani has had three wives and even brought a future one to the Governor;s Gracey Mansion and one wife was his cousin. Newt GINRICH His first wife ,who was in the hospital, that she was too ugly9 She had Cancerr. t0 be a First lady. She had been his professor. He proceeded to marry two more times Then General Patrios had his fling while married. Dr. Carson has financial problems.INTERESTING
None of which is even a TINY bit as damning as what Obama and Clinton have been doing for decades.
Amen, Clinton and Obama couples have destroyed the USA.
Right on!!
My God your as stupid as a box of rocks with all these comments! You cant even spell anything correctly and computers have spell check, by the way. Get an education of the most basic level at least before you ever post again. Your observations may hold merit but how they are presented is exactly what this overall posting is all about.
Sir,
The spelling, by you, of the word “you’re” was WRONG.
You spelled it “your”. “You are” is ‘YOU’RE”!!
You would be right except for the all caps key.
Interesting? Maybe…none criminal…just mixed luck in life …none affecting their ability to serve the country…
Everybody has a past. What’s yours. Bet it’s not squeeky clean either.
Joan I know as a rock solid democrat who would probably support Hitler in the Obama Cabinetcould now way support any Republican for anything.
Thing is these people you mention have made mistakes but Th
e thing is they don’t quite until they get it right.”GO DONALD TRUMP GO FOR THE GOLD”
Everyone has something that happened in there lives that required then to make decisions and MOVE ON.
“Perfect Person Profile” is only a state of mind for people who look in the mirror each morning and live in a dream world.
Dr Carson would have been good in the HHS but this is a much better use of his talents. The right man in the right spot.
i like Carson. i’m REALLY glad he didn’t get Surgeon General, though. The only thing i DIDN’T like about him was his preference for MANDATORY inoculations.
NO ONE should ever be forced to receive inoculations, especially since the Shrub’s maladministration forbade suing vaccine manufacturers for damages if what they provide causes illness, injury, or even death.
The reason that vaccinations were thought to be effective was the Salk vaccine and the fact that Polio died off. The problem is, about 20 years ago it was discovered that Polio died off in a natural CYCLE, having nothing at all to do with the vaccine. So there is NO evidence that the idea of loading down our immune systems actually works at all. I know that in my OWN case, I had been made to take Flu vaccines when in the Army, but quit taking them after 1973 when I noticed I had the Flu a LOT while taking it — and I never got it since then. Empirical evidence, but I really think vaccines do NOT work as they are said to.
So THRILLED that Dr. Carson will be in President Trump’s Cabinet! He was my candidate from the beginning, was one of the most, if not thee most intelligent men running for POTUS, and will be a great asset to Trump’s Administration!
Donald Trump is so right so often about so much, that it is almost unbelievable! He is a genius!
Donald Trump has all the solutions! Hillary Clinton nary a clue!
Donald Trump, the man that didn’t need to be President!
Donald Trump, the man that America needed to be President!
Trump-Pence, the dream team of American politics!
Making America greater, stronger and safer than ever before!
Roger, well put,
I totally agree with you!
Well said, sir.
Roger-
i’d agree with you too, but for one thing: iirc, the Bible has a passage which reads, “When they say unto you, ‘Peace and security,” then comes sudden destruction.”
Ok, i went and looked it up: see 1 Thessalonians 5:3.
We are so happy about Dr. Carson….we know he will assist in making the changes so badly needed in our inner cities. A brilliant man!!!
I certainly hope he can make changes in our inner cities. But the one most needed is discouraging certain people from producing as many children as they can, and collecting checks in payment for their breeding operations.
I’m not sure Dr. Carson can bring an end to that gravy train.
Ben Carson will be a wonderful addition to the Cabinet and hopefully President Elect Trump will continue to listen to him on moving forward and being the President for all Americans that will unify rather than divide!
When Dr Carson opens his mouth to speak, pearls of wisdom flows forth. He always cuts right to the heart of the subject. A great choice!!
another excellent choice by Trump. he is continuing to hit home runs with his choices.
Still waiting for Trump to clean up the Swamp!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope it is the day after the he is sworn in.
Pete
What a great choice, Ben Carson!
Am so happy he accepted the position as he will do a wonderful job running it!
Dr. Carson is as qualified for the Cabinet as Hillary was and, more than that: As Obama was/is for the presidency!
Breaking news: Donald Trump appoints Bill Clinton “head” dog catcher.
Not to include female dogs, we hope?
DR. CARSON IS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE TO BE IN YOUR ADMINISTRATION. HE WILL BE A GOOD EXAMPLE AND MOTIVATOR TO A LOT OF YOUNG KIDS TO CHANGE AND BETTER THEIR LIVES AND BE A CONTRIBUTORS TO WHAT
YOUR MAIN GOAL IS TO MAKE UNITED STATES GREAT AGAIN.
Suggest we all read the quote from Dr. Carson regarding his view of curing dependancy on the Goverment for help and where he boldly delivered it.
Let us help him achieve it 🙂
GREAT CHOICE. SO GLAD HE ACCEPTED THE POSITION. LETS BACK HIM UP 🙂
If the clinton’s had a pick it would be like a White Water fiasco of promises and deception as to the owners of new housing projects that many would like to have but never afford
Even though Petraeous probably is a good choice, you don’t want to start your PRESIDENCY, with that baggage, out of the gate, keep it right, don’t play fools folly like the Democrats and Republicans, wrong is not right for this change
Dr. Carson will be in the position of advancing the cause of the poor in the inner-cities. His goal should be to get the adults jobs and the children motivation to learn. He must inculcate in the people a spirit of hope for improvement that will move them into independent roles in America.
I’m delighted, Dr. Carson will be great for that position. I was afraid he wouldn’t be offered a postiIon. That would be a great loss. He is so smart and he stood by you all the way. I think you (Donald Troop) are putting together a great team. I can hardly wait to see things happening after January 20th. Go Trump Go!!!!
I’m delighted, Dr. Carson will be great for that position. I was afraid he wouldn’t be offered a postiIon. That would be a great loss. He is so smart and he stood by you all the way. I think you (Donald Troop) are putting together a great team. I can hardly wait to see things happening after January 20th. Go Trump Go!!!!
Catherine B.
I am so glad that Dr. Carson has become part of the Trump team. He is the reason the I started to back Trump, he said” Trump will listen, and it shows because he wants to do what the country needs, but will still listen to us. Congratulations, Dr. Carson!
“Trump’s cabinet gets HUGE addition”
Carson? Are you kidding me….. Johnny might have been a HUGE addition….Ben …not so much……………
Poor position for him in MHO. Carson should have been given charge of the Dept of Health.
And what a team is putting together – should product many positive and productive changes for We the People and our Country.
Its Great to see Dr.Ben Carson in P.E. Trumps Cabinet ! He is a Very Intelligent Man ,Though like 90% of the Super Smart ,He has his quirks ,But I’m sure the President Elect (Who has his Own) is Positive they won’t interfere.I think Dr.Carson would have done a Great Job as President but Electing another Person of Color on the shirt tails of this abomination we unfortunately have in the White House Now no doubt precluding him from the start. I and many ,many people I come in contact with of ALL Ethnic Backgrounds feel Very Strongly that obama may be the Top Candidate for the Worst President in American History ! And More Important it having nothing to do with his 1/2 White or 1/2 Colored Heritage or the IQ he Carries ,Shows without a doubt it is his I’m Better and Smarter than Everyone Else Personality Flaw! It Clouds his Vision and Perspective of The Problems at Hand !
So happy for Dr. Carson. He is a great man for the job. And I also liked the breaking news about Billy being the ”head dog catcher”. LOL. Good luck President TRUMP. I voted for you.
Hopefully Trump will follow the strategy of the RockLand, Maine sheriff who provided his area’s unemployed with axes and had them chopping firewood from public property. Such firewood was then given to poor families for best and cooking needs. Concluision: If you are unemployed and cannot find work, put them to work to provide goods/services that need manpower.
Donald Trump just keeps naming an outstanding cast. I’m looking forward to great things from the Trump administration. Dr. Carson may be able to communicate with those served by HUD on a level that other heads have been unable to do.
Good appointments thus far, BUT, the one I am concerned about now, is Secretary of State. EVEN considering ANTI-GUN candidates , PAETRAEUS, RUDY G, , and ROMNEY, (ALL ALIGNED WITH VIRULENT ANTI SECOND AMENDMENT GROUPS) spits in the face of every gun owner who supported his candidacy. The NRA and other large groups who endorsed him are confused as to his conviction concerning his strongly worded campaign promises.
Of those considered earlier, JOHN BOLTON would be an excellent choice.
My only disappointment is that Connie Rice isn’t somewhere in this Cabinet and political discussion. She would make a superb Sec State! Maybe if it were offered she would accept or at least consider it. My God, talk about brilliant minds and how about foregn policy savvy and experience. I also would have preferred Rudi G for AG. Hell, the man is a living legend with regard not only to how he carried NY and the country through 911, but how he cleaned up the city and reduced crime. Of course, Commissar De Bastardo, and Moron CUUUKOOOMO, have brought the city and state of NY back to the Third World and “leveled the playing field” so criminals and gangsters are treated better than your tax paying citizens like all Democrat and Demogogues have done acrossed the USA. But you know what, you voted the sobs into office, so suck it up and live with it. I am impressed with all of the other selections and especially Gen Mattis for Sec Def. Oh by the way, don’t refer to the MAN as ‘mad dog’! He’s anythiing but. He is a brilliant, scholar, and student of Sun Tzu for most of you MORON Democrat/Socialists/Nazis, he is not just a student of warfare but a student of how to win and keep the peace without killing your opponent with bullets. He is man of honor, courage, commitment and he is and always will be a United States Marine….Semper Fi Mr. Secretary. God Bless You, President-elect Trump, and God Bless America. CAPT P USN (ret)
After eight years of presidency of Trump, i will make an early prediction that his eldest son could possibly run for president in 2024 or as a VP pick by some one else.. I will put up 10.00 dollars on that bet…..