President-Elect Trump has vowed to dismantle the Department of Education, and he found someone who may be poised to do just that. On Tuesday, Trump nominated Linda McMahon — co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) — as the next secretary of education.
In a statement, Trump said McMahon has been “a fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights” and school choice. “As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” he wrote.
Like his other picks — McMahon is a Trump loyalist, so here’s what to know about her.
Linda McMahon’s role as secretary of education
Once Trump takes office, one of McMahon’s biggest tasks will be to eliminate the very agency she was hired to oversee.
Trump has promised to close the Education Department and return much of its powers to states. He hasn’t explained exactly how this would work, though it would likely require Congressional action. But his Agenda47 education platform makes clear he wants to do so “very early in the administration.” (Trump is hardly the only president to make such a vow: Ronald Reagan also campaigned on getting rid of it in 1980.)
Per Agenda47, McMahon will also likely push for putting parents in charge of electing school principals, cutting federal funding to schools that teach “critical race theory,” encouraging prayer in classrooms, and supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed weapons.
Was Linda McMahon involved in the WWE?
McMahon co-founded WWE with her husband, Vince McMahon, in 1980. As the original head of the WWE, she oversaw its transition from a small wrestling entertainment company into a media empire. She even appeared on the show from time to time to act out some wild storylines — in one particularly vivid scene, she traded scripted blows with her daughter.
McMahon eventually left the company to run for Senate in 2010. When that campaign failed, she made another bid in 2012, but lost that race, too.
Linda McMahon’s background and experience
Originally from North Carolina, McMahon graduated from East Carolina University in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in French and certification to teach.
While she has juggled many different hats over the course of her career, she has spent very little time in education; her most direct experience included serving as a member of the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in 2004. She was also later on the Connecticut State Board of Education after a contentious hearing about her experience. According to the Daily Beast, she wasn’t honest about her credentials, including having a degree in education instead of French. After a local newspaper contacted her about the claim, she resigned from her position on the board.
Trump transition spokesperson Brian Hughes downplayed the incident, telling the Boston Globe that it was addressed “many, many years ago.”
How is Linda McMahon connected to Donald Trump?
McMahon has long been one of Trump’s biggest supporters. She served as his administrator of the Small Business Administration during his first term, from 2017 to 2019.
She also donated more than $7 million to his campaign in 2020. Following Trump’s election loss that same year, she went from chairing his super PAC to helping start the America First Policy Institute and continued advocating for his agenda, including touting policies such as the desire to “combat divisive DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] programs” in universities.
In Trump’s run for president this year, McMahon was one of his co-chairs, along with Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald. As part of that role, McMahon has been helping to plan Trump’s new administration and fill thousands of roles.
Linda McMahon’s net worth
McMahon’s net worth is estimated around $2 billion — according to Forbes, her and her husband earned $100 million during Trump’s first administration, via the sale of stocks and bonds and through investment income.
Linda McMahon lawsuit
Like some of Trump’s other nominees, McMahon faces her own sex scandal. In October, a group of five anonymous “ring boys” who helped set up WWE events as teenagers, sued the McMahons, along World Wrestling Entertainment and its parent company, TKO Group.
Together, the John Does alleged that the couple was well aware that former WWE announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. was sexually abusing them, and did nothing to stop him. According to the lawsuit, this abuse occurred throughout the 1970s through the 1990s.
Though the McMahons say these claims are “baseless,” Vince McMahon resigned just one day after the lawsuit was filed. Trump hasn’t commented on the allegations, but praised Vince as a “fantastic guy” in an interview last year.
Is Linda McMahon still married to Vince McMahon?
Linda’s attorney, Laura Brevetti, confirmed to The Washington Post that the McMahons are currently separated. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter first broke the news in 2022, but according to Sports Illustrated, neither McMahon confirmed nor denied the report at the time.
The couple were first married in 1966 and share two children, Shane and Stephanie, as well as six grandchildren.
