Share
20th November 2024
11:29am GMT
Donald Trump has appointed WWE co-founder Linda McMahon as his education secretary.
McMahon, who co-founded WWE alongside her husband Vince in 1980, is a long-time ally of Trump's, having donated millions of dollars to his presidential campaign and already being his transition co-chair.
She also worked with him during his first presidency when she led the Small Business Administration.
Announcing her appointment on Truth Social, Trump said McMahon would "use her decades of leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers."
The president-elect has promised to shut down the Department of Education, and he said McMahon would "spearhead" the effort to "send Education BACK TO THE STATES
Trump and McMahon have a long history together, with the former Apprentice host having regularly made appearance at wrestling matches in the past, and even having been part of WWE storylines.
She resigned as CEO of WWE in 2009 so she could try and run for Senate, a venture which ended in failure.
Last month, the 73-year-old was named in a lawsuit which alleges she, her husband and other company leaders at WWE knowingly allowed boys aged 12 and 13 to be abused by a ringside announcer.
The McMahons deny any wrongdoing.
Whilst Linda McMahon has little background or experience in education, she did serve on Connecticut state's board of education between 2009 and 2010.
Since his election victory earlier this month, Trump has been putting together his second cabinet.
Alongside McMahon as education secretary, Trump's other appointments include Florida senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Fox News presenter Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health.
Explore more on these topics:
