Republicans this week confirmed Elbridge Colby to a top post at the Pentagon and announced that William Ruger has taken on a key role in Tulsi Gabbard’s office. If you’re looking for evidence that the second Trump administration will allow blob-sceptics to finally win their game of tug-of-war with neoconservatives, those two developments are good indications.

Ruger, according to Axios, quietly stepped into the role originally intended for Daniel Davis, who withdrew. Ruger, an Afghan war veteran, has in the past advocated a restrained approach to global conflicts ranging from opposition to regime change in Iran and support for Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal. Like Colby, who is now third in command at the Pentagon, Davis quickly became the subject of critical coverage in Jewish Insider after he appeared poised to enter the administration. Hawks believe both Davis and Colby are insufficiently supportive of Israel. Jewish Insider was also critical of Dan Caldwell, who reportedly helped Pete Hegseth staff the Pentagon, over claims he takes a more dovish approach to Iran.

Colby’s confirmation battle got ugly. Vice President JD Vance even got involved, publicly sparring with Colby’s critics amid allegations that heavyweight GOP Sen. Tom Cotton sought to derail the nomination. But, like Cotton’s reported efforts to sideline CIA agent-turned-critic Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, the campaign did not work.

Ruger, Davis, and Caldwell are all particularly distrusted by hawks for their deep affiliations with the Koch network of nonprofits, that have long been derided as isolationist. Other veterans of Koch world have found their way into critical positions as well, further suggesting Trump’s cabinet is eager to undermine seriously the foreign policy establishment.

“What?” Mark Levin posted on X, reacting to the news of Ruger’s appointment on Friday. “President Trump said no Koch people. Koch openly opposed the Trump election and opposed the President’s policies. They’ve an ongoing suit against the administration. And Koch, a radical libertarian, and Soros, a radical leftist, are working together on foreign policy, which is decidedly anti-American in my view”. Meanwhile, Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl posted: “Ruger isn’t just an isolationist. He’s been the prez of the American Institute for Economic Research, which is trashing Trump on tariffs.”

Clearly, there is just as much division within Republican ranks as there is between the two major parties. Back in January, Jewish Insider quoted a “foreign policy expert” who referred to the context around Caldwell’s work as “a battle royale” between Donald Trump Jr. “and the ‘globalists’ he believes are represented by Jared Kushner,” who dominated the first Trump administration.

This is indeed a battle royale. Trump Jr., Vance, and their internal allies aren’t “isolationist” so much as they’re isolationist relative to people like National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. This divide was on full display in the “Signalgate” chat when Vance clashed over strikes on the Houthis, before ultimately going along with the plan. Sceptics of the US strategy in, for instance, Afghanistan — including Ruger, Vance, and Hegseth — aren’t always aligned on other priorities, but they’re aligned on deep suspicion of the people who’ve made American foreign policy for decades.

Some of those people, though, distrust their critics and remain in important positions. Gabbard’s decision to quietly replace Davis with Ruger is more evidence that Trump Jr. and his allies are winning out this time around. Whatever happened with Davis, Gabbard’s replacement is no less a vehement ideological opponent of the status quo in American foreign policy. And her critics, it seems, will just have to live with that.

When the Senate confirmed Colby on Wednesday, longtime GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell became the only Republican to vote against him. “Mitch’s vote today—like so much of the last few years of his career—is one of the great acts of political pettiness I’ve ever seen,” Vice President Vance posted on X. (Don Jr. weighed in as well.) McConnell remains at the helm of a powerful Senate subcommittee, but he’ll be out the door by 2027. It’s clear who’s in firm control of GOP foreign policy now.

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Emily Jashinsky is UnHerd‘s Washington correspondent.

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