Trump Names Friends and Major Donors to Oversee Transition Team

Former President Donald J. Trump has appointed two of his friends and financial backers to oversee a transition team preparing for his potential return to power, even as polls show that his once-commanding lead evaporated after President Biden dropped out and Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee.

The two co-chairs of a Trump transition, Linda E. McMahon and Howard Lutnick, will oversee efforts to identify and vet potential political appointees and draft executive orders and other plans to implement Mr. Trump’s policy proposals on matters ranging from a sweeping crackdown on immigration to hiking tariffs on imported goods.

The selection of the two, which the Trump campaign announced on Friday, was notable for several reasons. As a matter of timing, it came months after presidential campaigns normally start working on contingency planning to ensure a smooth transition should their candidate win the election.

It was also striking that neither Ms. McMahon nor Mr. Lutnick has been associated with Project 2025, an effort by a consortium of conservative think tanks to develop personnel and policy transition planning for the next Republican president. While Mr. Trump has close ties to leaders of that effort, he has recently tried to distance himself from it as Democrats have seized on some of its more radical proposals.

“I have absolute confidence the Trump-Vance administration will be ready to govern effectively on day one,” Mr. Trump said in a statement accompanying the announcement of his 2024 transition team.

A Trump team official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the transition, said the effort would not be established with money the federal government makes available for transitions, but