President-elect Donald Trump announced late on Thursday that he plans to nominate Doug Burgum for secretary of the interior.
“We have a big announcement, and I won’t tell you, it’s — I won’t tell you the name of his, the exact name,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago gala. “I think he’s an incredible person, got an unbelievably wonderful wife named Kathryn. So, I won’t tell you — his name might be something like ‘Burgum.’ Burgum.”
“He’s from North Dakota. He’s going to be announced tomorrow for a very big position,” the former president said as he pointed toward the North Dakota governor.
“[Burgum’s] going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic,” Trump confirmed shortly after.
He clarified that a “formal announcement” will take place tomorrow.
With no political experience, Burgum was elected governor of North Dakota in 2016, was reelected in 2020, and decided not to run again this year.
Burgum tossed his name in the mix of challengers for the Republican nomination this cycle before bowing out and throwing his support to the former president. The 68-year-old found himself on the short list of vice-presidential candidates Trump considered before landing on Ohio’s junior senator, J. D. Vance.
Burgum became president of Great Plains Software in 1984 and sold the Fargo-based company to Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 2001. His net worth remains over $100 million, according to Forbes, with an extensive business portfolio. He was the founder of the real estate firm Kilbourne Group, co-founder of the software venture-capital firm Arthur Ventures, and board chairman of Atlassian and SuccessFactors, according to USA Today.
The department “plays a central role in how the United States stewards its public lands, increases environmental protections, pursues environmental justice, and honors our nation-to-nation relationship with Tribes,” according to its website.
Burgum’s deep ties to fossil fuels and consistent pro-energy rhetoric place him in a prime position to further Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” policy when it comes to reviving oil-exploration efforts across the country.