WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump he spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he had put in power. This time, he’s taking no chances.

Like him work to fill his administration the second time, Trump turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of his chosen ones are personal friends. Others are familiar faces on Fox News Channel or other conservative outlets. Some have extensive experience in the fields they have been elected to lead, while others have seemingly none. Some seem chosen to shock and awe, some to soothe, others to unleash chaos.

Recent converts to his cause are lined up shoulder to shoulder with longtime allies. Chinese hawks could serve in positions of power alongside a peace activist. But whatever differences in ideology or strength of resume, above all, they will be there to do Trump’s will.

In his first term, Trump shrugged off efforts by aides and advisers to “manage” the Washington newcomer and became frustrated by leaks that came from rival factions engaged in ideological battles and vying for his ear.

Now, aides and allies said, he is putting loyalty above all else, aiming to reduce infighting and maximize his ability to reshape Washington during his second tour in the Oval Office.

“When he was first elected,” Trump “didn’t have that rich experience in D.C. or dealing with people in Washington,” said Marc Lotter, a former adviser who now works at the America First Policy Institute, which is closely involved with the transition. his. “So many people he reached out to were trying to take advantage of that to bring him to their point of view rather than accomplish what his point of view was and what he was elected to do.”

Now, Lotter said of Trump, “if he makes a decision, he wants them to execute it.”

Presidents always install trusted aides and those likely to support their agenda. But critics fear that Trump is building an administration designed to eliminate any significant domestic opposition to his policies and impulses.

Carrying grievances, an appetite for revenge and a list of those he wants to target, Trump will enter office with far fewer railings and checks on his power than last time. He will return to Washington with a Republican-controlled Congress and a conservative Supreme Court, containing three justices he appointed, who have ruled that he is largely immune from prosecution.

Trump has long said the biggest mistake of his first term was electing the wrong people. He arrived in Washington as an outsider who had never served in government and says he relied on others for staff recommendations.

“I did such a good job. But we’re going to do a much better job now, because now I know the people. I know the good ones, the bad ones. I know the weak, the strong. I know the stupid ones. I know the smart ones. I know them all,” he said at a rally in North Carolina in the final stretch of the race.

He blamed assistants for hindering his first-term efforts, attacking them as “stupid” and weak. The degree to which Trump has faced pushback from his own appointees has often been a reflection of the extraordinary nature of his orders.

His first term was littered with examples of aides trying to outdo Trump by going slow or ignoring directives they considered ill-advised. Sometimes they tried to mount 11th hour campaigns to reverse them. Other times, they dragged their feet, hoping Trump would forget what he ordered and move on to something else.

A major example came just weeks before he left office: Trump signed unofficial documents drawn up by some of his political aides ordering all US troops out of Afghanistan immediately, only to face a intense pushback from his national security team. He ended up reversing course.

When he pushed to send active-duty U.S. troops to quell mass protests in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis, advisers resisted, worried about the illegal use of the military against its own citizens. the country.

In 2016, Trump filled much of his team with high-powered business leaders, many of whom had worked in the industries they were tasked with regulating. They included names like Rex Tillerson, who ran energy giant ExxonMobil before becoming secretary of state.

Trump also sought to surround himself with a military cadre he liked to call “my generals.” This time, Trump went in a very different direction.

In many cases, this means that expertise is not required. Environmental Protection Agency nominee Lee Zeldin has little history with climate or regulatory issues. Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman nominated to lead the nation’s intelligence community, has been embraced by Kremlin allies for her dovish views on the war in Ukraine. And Pete Hegseth, a Fox News weekend co-host tapped to serve as defense secretary, has no Pentagon experience.