Vivek Ramaswamy, who is a close confidant of Trump and Vice President JD Vance, was appreciated by Trump in November last year, to be co-leader of DOGE with Elon Musk.
US President-elect Donald Trump has named several Indian-Americans for the top posts in his administration after winning the presidency.
Trump's latest shift in stance comes as major divide emerged within his MAGA team in the United States. Musk and Ramaswamy, both foreign-origin leaders, heading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seem to have reignited the debate.
Donald Trump has started the process of selecting his cabinet and other senior officials after his victory in the presidential election. Here’s a look at some of his early choices and top contenders for crucial positions, including those overseeing defence, and intelligence.
Elon Musk gave millions of dollars to support Donald Trump's US presidential campaign and made public appearances with him.
Former Republican presidential candidate and biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy said on Sunday that Donald Trump will carry out a mass deportation as one of his first priorities in the White House.
Eight months ago, Indian-American businessman-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy forecasted that President Joe Biden would not be the Democratic Party's nominee for the presidency.
Ramaswamy ended fourth in the Iowa caucuses behind Nikki Haley and suspended his presidential campaign, endorsing Trump for the candidature. Ramaswamy praised the former President throughout his campaigns and even vowed to pardon him from legal cases if elected.
Ramaswamy's decision was made after his disappointing performance in the Iowa caucuses, coming fourth after Trump, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. He grabbed attention for his contentious proposed policies and fiery speech, but was unable to rise in national polling after the second GOP debate.
While addressing a crowd of Iowa voters, Indian-origin Ramaswamy said, "I would speak the truth and lose an election rather than winning by playing some political snakes and ladders."
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found little evidence that Republican voters are swayed by the battery of federal and state criminal charges Trump faces. Few self-identified Republicans believed the charges of electoral fraud and mob incitement against the ex-President.
The 38-year-old Ramaswamy accused Haley of having "a corruption problem" and held up a pad of paper having "NIKKI CORRUPT" written on it. While he accused her of fascism and corruption, Haley refrained from a verbal duel with her rival, saying it wasn't "worth her time".
The 38-year-old Indian American entrepreneur spoke on how his family instilled values of marriage and respect for parents and vowed to make patriotism and faith "cool" again. He was joined at the event by his GOP rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.
At one point in the fiery debate, Ramaswamy personally attacked Haley's daughter for using TikTok despite Republican criticism of the China-owned app. A visibly enraged Haley told him to leave his daughter out and called her fellow Indian-American aspirant "scum".
Ramaswamy's campaign team alleged that two protesters had hurled profanities at him before fleeing the scene. In the first Republican primary debate, the Indian-American entrepreneur vehemently opposed US aid to Ukraine.
Ramaswamy also proposed declaring economic independence from Taiwan, China's arch-rival, by boosting production of US-grown semiconductors.
Ramaswamy suggested that the H-1B system should be replaced by an "action meritocratic admission", terming the former as 'indentured service'.
Ramaswamy said, currently, presidents act like “puppets” who can’t implement policies.
"To unify this country, I commit as president to pardon all Americans who were targets of politicized federal prosecutions & those denied due process," said Ramaswamy.
"If Donald Trump's the nominee -- yes, I will support him, and if I'm the president, yes, I will pardon him because that will help reunite the country," said Vivek Ramaswamy.
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