Trump picks former WWE executive Linda McMahon for education secretary | Trump’s administration

Linda McMahon, co-chair of Donald Trump’s transition team, has been named the president-elect’s pick for education secretary in his incoming administration.

In a statement, Trump praised the “incredible” job McMahon has done as co-chair of the transition team, saying, “As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every state in America and empower parents to make the best education decisions for their families. … We want to send education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”

The nomination comes after McMahon’s transition team co-chairman and billionaire founder of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, was named Trump’s pick for commerce secretary.

McMahon was named transition team chairman in August, after donating a huge $814,600 to Trump’s campaign from July. She previously served in Trump’s cabinet in his first administration as administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019.

Since 2021, McMahon has served as the Washington DC-based think tank America First Policy Institute’s board chair and chair of its Center for the American Worker.

A former Connecticut Senate candidate, McMahon is also the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and a former executive of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon.

In October, McMahon was named in a new lawsuit involving WWE. The suit alleges that she and other executives of the company allowed the sexual abuse of young boys at the hands of a ringside announcer, former WWE ring crew chief Melvin Phillips Jr. The complaint specifically alleges that the McMahons knew about the abuse and failed to stop it.

A lawyer for the McMahons said USA Today Sports that the allegations are “false allegations” stemming from reporting that the couple deems “absurd, defamatory and completely without merit”.