Trump said to tap ex-Marine general as Homeland Security chief

President-elect Donald Trump has decided to name retired Marine Corps general John Kelly, a veteran of combat in Iraq, to lead the Department of Homeland Security, US media said Wednesday.

Kelly would be the third retired general — all of them former Marines — to be named to cabinet-level positions in Trump’s administration.

The impending appointment was widely reported in the US media but not confirmed by Trump’s transition office, apparently because Kelly is out of the country.

Kelly, 66, is a former head of the US Southern Command and was the commanding general of Multi-National Force-West in Iraq from 2008 to 2009.

He was promoted to general in March 2003 while in combat in Iraq, the first such battlefield promotion of a Marine colonel since 1951.

His youngest son was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010.

Trump has picked an unusual number of retired generals for his cabinet, including retired general James Mattis as defense secretary and retired lieutenant-general Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

Trump also selected a Midwest governor with close ties to China as ambassador to Beijing as he was named Wednesday Time’s “person of the year” and signaled tough “American first” economic policies.

The president-elect announced his selection of Iowa’s Terry Branstad, a key Trump supporter and one of the longest-serving governors in the country, at a fundraising breakfast in New York on Wednesday, a spokesperson confirmed.

China responded swiftly by calling Branstad an “old friend,” indicating that his nomination may ease disquiet sparked in America’s largest trading partner when Trump took a protocol-busting phone call with the leader of Taiwan.

The maverick real estate tycoon, who has never previously held elected office, has lashed out at China accusing Beijing of currency manipulation, unfairly taxing US exports and militarizing the South China Sea.