Donald Trump has nominated Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), to head the Department of Education, which he has pledged to eliminate.
In a statement, Trump described McMahon as a “strong advocate for Parents’ Rights” and said, “We will return Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will lead that initiative.”
McMahon, who co-chairs Trump’s transition team as he prepares to return to the White House in January, is responsible for filling around 4,000 government positions.
Trump highlighted McMahon’s two-year tenure on the Connecticut Board of Education and her 16 years on the board of trustees at Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic institution, as relevant experience for the role.
McMahon, who left WWE in 2009 to unsuccessfully run for a US Senate seat, has been a significant donor to Trump. Since 2021, she has chaired the Center For The American Worker at the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned organization.
Trump had pledged during his campaign to dismantle the federal Department of Education upon his return to office. “I say it all the time. I’m dying to get back to do this. We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” he stated at a rally in Wisconsin in September.
During the Republican convention in Milwaukee, McMahon called Trump a “colleague, boss, and friend,” highlighting their longstanding relationship in the wrestling industry. She noted that they first met during her time as CEO of WWE.
In a famous moment, Trump once body-slammed McMahon’s husband, Vince McMahon, during a staged feud, shaving his head in front of a live television audience.
In 2017, McMahon was confirmed as the head of the Small Business Administration, an agency that supports small businesses, which employ nearly half of the private-sector workforce in the United States.
Trump praised McMahon for her business acumen, especially in helping WWE grow, and noted that she continued her political involvement after leaving the administration, chairing the pro-Trump America First Action SuperPAC.
