Trump Picks McMahon as Education Secretary
Jessica Blake, Liam Knox and Katherine Knott
November 13, 2024
The former WWE executive has served on the board of Sacred Heart University since 2004 but has few other ties to higher ed.
President-elect Donald Trump picked Linda McMahon, a business and wrestling executive and major Republican donor, to lead the Education Department, he announced Tuesday night. CNN first reported on the decision.
McMahon, a co-chair of Trump’s transition team who has virtually no experience in education, served as director of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term. She left the administration in 2019 and went on to help create the American First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank that’s been closely involved in planning for the second term.
McMahon is perhaps most known for her time as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon. Together, they built the company from a small regional corporation to a multinational public enterprise. She stepped down from the executive role in 2009. In 2010 and 2012, she ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in Connecticut.
