--- title: Donald Trump Says It’s Fine That Nominees Disagree With Him description: "I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!" Trump tweeted of his nominees who have been disagreeing with him. canonical: https://time.com/4634242/donald-trump-cabinet-nominees-disagree-congress/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-13T12:19:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:42:57.965Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says It’s Just Fine That His Nominees Are Disagreeing With Him og:description: "I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!" og:url: https://time.com/4634242/donald-trump-cabinet-nominees-disagree-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578338bbf3523312/6988b565524fc043d5dfab77/trump-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-PRESSER og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says It’s Just Fine That His Nominees Are Disagreeing With Him twitter:description: "I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578338bbf3523312/6988b565524fc043d5dfab77/trump-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says It’s Just Fine That His Nominees Are Disagreeing With Him  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 13, 2017 12:19 PM UTC  US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference January 11, 2017 at Trump Tower in New York. US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference January 11, 2017 at Trump Tower in New York.TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 13, 2017 12:19 PM UTC Many of [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/)‘s Cabinet nominees have been [publicly parting ways with him](http://time.com/4632952/donald-trump-cabinet-confirmation-hearings-splits/) on major issues at their confirmation hearings this week. But [the President-elect](http://time.com/white-house-interviews/?xid=homepage) says that’s just fine. “All of my Cabinet nominee are looking good and doing a great job,” [Trump said Friday morning on Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/819858926455967744). “I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!” This week of hearings on Capitol Hill has certainly shown that many of the picks aren’t just expressing Trump’s views. [Nominees have distanced themselves from Trump’s remarks](http://time.com/4632952/donald-trump-cabinet-confirmation-hearings-splits/) on such hot-button topics as foreign policy, immigration and the military. His Secretary of State pick disagrees with him on a key trade deal, his Defense Secretary pick wants to take a harsher stance on Russia, and his Attorney General nominee [says the U.S. shouldn’t ban](http://time.com/4630738/jeff-sessions-donald-trump-attorney-general-hearing/?iid=sr-link3) Muslim immigration to the United States. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/819858926455967744) **Read More:** [How Donald Trump’s Cabinet Nominees Contradicted Him](http://time.com/4632952/donald-trump-cabinet-confirmation-hearings-splits/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4634242/donald-trump-cabinet-nominees-disagree-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4634242/donald-trump-cabinet-nominees-disagree-congress/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says It’s Just Fine That His Nominees Are Disagreeing With Him","datePublished":"2017-01-13T12:19:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:42:57.965Z","description":"\"I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!\"","url":"https://time.com/4634242/donald-trump-cabinet-nominees-disagree-congress/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578338bbf3523312/6988b565524fc043d5dfab77/trump-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578338bbf3523312/6988b565524fc043d5dfab77/trump-inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-PRESSER","caption":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-PRESSER","creditText":"TIMOTHY A. 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