Trump taps former WWE CEO Linda McMahon as education secretary

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Linda McMahon as education secretary, putting the former pro-wrestling mogul at the helm of a department Trump has proposed abolishing.

"For the past four years, as the Chair of the Board at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Linda has been a fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights, working hard at both AFPI and America First Works (AFW) to achieve Universal School Choice in 12 States, giving children the opportunity to receive an excellent Education, regardless of zip code or income," Trump said in a statement.

Trump said she will fight "tirelessly" to expand universal school choice across the US.

Describing McMahon as a "fierce advocate for Parents' Rights", Trump said in a statement: "We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort."

McMahon, who had been in the running for commerce secretary, headed up the Small Business Administration in Trump's first administration and was a major donor and early supporter of the Republican president-elect when he first ran for the White House almost a decade ago.

The co-founder and former CEO of the WWE professional wrestling franchise, she resigned from the SBA in 2019 to lead the pro-Trump spending group America First Action. She also chairs the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-friendly think tank.

Her ties with Trump go back to her years in the professional wrestling industry - she said she first met him as chief executive at WWE.

At the culmination of a staged feud, Trump once body-slammed her husband, legendary wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, and shaved his head in the middle of a wrestling ring on live television.

Trump tapped her to co-lead a transition team formed to help vet personnel and draft policy ahead of the Nov 5 election.

McMahon had been in the mix to head the Commerce Department, but Trump on Tuesday instead chose her transition team co-leader - Cantor Fitzgerald Chief Executive Howard Lutnick - for that post.

Now she will lead an agency Trump said on the campaign trail that he would abolish, although he likely lacks authority to do it without congressional approval.