Marco Rubio and Scott Bessent in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 4. | Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Reports of the GOP establishment’s death have been somewhat exaggerated.

In his second term, President Donald Trump has filled his administration with many hard-line ideologues, personal loyalists, and more recent converts to his cause — spurring many to conclude that this was a fully MAGA White House.

But, going against that trend, certain establishment figures continue to hold key administration posts — and their importance and influence have risen in recent weeks, as they’ve won internal battles and steered Trump’s policies in their preferred direction.

Take Scott Bessent, a financier close to Wall Street who Trump named Treasury secretary.

During and immediately after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which made little rational sense, Bessent often appeared hapless and at a loss. But Bessent eventually convinced Trump to pause many of the tariffs and has since clearly taken the lead in the administration’s trade negotiations — sidelining hardliners like Peter Navarro, at least for now. He even took on Elon Musk and won, getting Trump to retract an acting IRS commissioner appointment that Musk had sneaked through without Bessent’s knowledge.

Or take Marco Rubio, a more traditional GOP hawk Trump........

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