President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will nominate Doug Burgum to be secretary of the Interior Department.
“He's going to lead the Interior Department, and he's going to be a great person,” President Trump said of the North Dakota governor in remarks at the America First Policy Institute gala held at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. It will happen,” he said.
President Trump, 78, indicated he would make a “formal announcement” about Burgum on Friday.
The president-elect revealed Burgum as one of his Cabinet nominees after declaring that his incoming administration plans to cut Americans' “energy bills in half.”
President Trump teased that another “big thing” could be revealed as soon as Friday.
“[Burgum is] “It's going to be announced tomorrow, and there's probably someone else that's going to be announced with him, but he's a big name,” he said.
“We're going to do some incredible things with energy and land and the interior,” Trump said of his policies.
Burgum, 68, has been governor of North Dakota, a state rich in energy resources, since 2016.
The governor endorsed Trump earlier this year after his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
During his short-lived presidential campaign, Burgum aggressively emphasized expanding domestic energy production and the threat from China.
The governor, who attended several pro-Trump rallies, was on the 45th president's list of running mates until Trump nominated Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
Before entering politics, Burgum was CEO of Great Plains Software, a technology startup that was acquired by Microsoft in 2001.
He remained at Microsoft until 2007, serving as senior vice president.
