NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 30: Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, November 30, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump picked Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, to serve as the administrator of the Small Business Administration, his transition announced Wednesday.
“Linda has a tremendous background and is widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives advising businesses around the globe,” Trump said in a statement. “She helped grow WWE from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide.”
He continued, “Linda is going to be a phenomenal leader and champion for small businesses and unleash America’s entrepreneurial spirit all across the country.”
McMahon is co-founder of the professional wrestling franchise WWE along with her husband Vince McMahon, and twice a former Republican Senate candidate from Connecticut. She’s donated $6 million dollars in August and September to Rebuilding America Now, a super PAC that supported Trump’s presidential bid.
She wasn’t always a fan. During the Republican primary, she told Yahoo’s Katie Couric that she was offended by Trump’s comments about women, calling them “deplorable.”
“He’s not helping, certainly, to put women in the best light,” McMohon said. “Maybe he regrets them, maybe he doesn’t. I realize he punches hard when he punches back, but that’s just over the top.”
But after the primaries, McMahon told the Associated Press that even though Trump wasn’t her first choice for the nomination, she became a strong supporter of the business mogul.
“Once you’re his friend, he is loyal to the end,” she said. “He’s an incredibly loyal, loyal friend.”
