Donald Trump crossed off the name of one top contender to lead the Air Force.
The president-elect said Monday that Andrew McKenna, a donor and former Bush administration official who had been considered to lead the military service, was no longer in the running.
“Andrew McKenna will not be invited to join the Trump Administration as Secretary of the Air Force, or anything else,” Trump posted to his account on Monday morning.
POLITICO had previously reported that McKenna was a leading contender for the Air Force job. Trump noted the story in his post and said, “That is Fake News put out by Politico!”
It was not immediately clear why the president-elect dropped McKenna from consideration, but one person close to the transition said that McKenna rubbed some people in the Trump camp the wrong way. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about internal personnel matters.
The news further complicates Trump’s search for Air Force secretary, the only branch of the military the president-elect hasn’t yet tapped a top civilian official to lead. Trump named John Phelan, another top donor, as his pick for Navy Secretary soon after his election win. He has picked Dan Driscoll, an Army veteran who went to law school with Vice President-elect JD Vance, to head up the Army.
Neither McKenna nor the Trump transition team immediately responded to a request for comment.
McKenna, a private pilot and Trump donor who leads a Washington advisory firm, had been a leading contender for the Air Force’s top civilian job.
Former Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), a retired Air Force bomber pilot who defended Trump on the House Intelligence Committee, had also been considered before he dropped out. One person familiar with the process said that Matthew Kuta, the chief operating officer of Voyager Space and a retired F-15 fighter pilot, had been considered along with Matt Byrd, an aviation executive. The person, who was granted anonymity to talk about personnel matters, did not say whether they were still under consideration.
McKenna may have also faced a tough confirmation hearing because of his background. POLITICO previously reported thatMcKenna’s firm helped the LIV Golf tour track advocacy efforts of 9/11 victims’ families who protested the tournament because it had links to the Saudi government. He also hired the wife of a National Rifle Association executive while his firm represented the group.
