Divisive campaign figures including Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich headline the candidates, while RNC chair Reince Priebus looks likely to be chief of staff

Some of the most divisive figures from a historically ugly US election campaign are now in contention for senior positions in a Donald Trump administration that looks set to be dominated by white men.

“This is all being literally discussed at this time,” said one Trump adviser who did not wish to be named. “There are people flying in and out of town and meetings taking place. There is a very long list of gifted, talented individuals who have come forward and said they’re happy to enter the arena. We are putting a structure in place. It’s moving very quickly; it has to move quickly.” Some 3,000-4,000 new senior presidential appointees are due to take office in early 2017.

Having paid little attention to the transition during a bruising campaign, Trump’s senior team gathered on Wednesday to play catch-up. The group included transition chairman and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus, Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, and Jared Kushner, husband of Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

Sessions told the Associated Press: “We had a great meeting and I thought it was valuable. And lots of work has been done. So it’s the beginning, really a solid beginning. First phase of the beginning.”

Analysts and media reports suggested that Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who led Republican opposition to Bill Clinton in the 1990s, could be in contention for secretary of state, although Tennessee senator Bob Corker, who chairs the foreign relations committee, is another potential option.

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Rudy Giuliani, almost constantly at Trump’s side in his final weeks on the trail, was asked on CNN if he wants the attorney general job. “I certainly have the energy, and there’s probably nobody that knows the justice department better than me,” the 72-year-old former New York mayor replied. “I know the bottom of the justice department, and I know the top.”

Christie is another name linked to the post of attorney general, while Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs veteran and chief executive of a private investment firm, served as Trump’s finance chairman and is a likely a contender for treasury secretary. A senior official on Trump’s transition team is said to have contacted the JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive, Jamie Dimon, to see if he would be interested in being treasury secretary, Reuters reported on Thursday, adding that it was unclear how Dimon responded.

Retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn, who introduced Trump at many of his rallies, is a possible pick as defence secretary. Priebus, who stuck by Trump even as other Republicans fell away, is tipped as a likely White House chief of staff, although Christie could also be in contention. Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s first campaign manager and now a commentator for CNN, also reportedly covets the position.

Trump’s closest allies come with considerable political baggage. Giuliani, once hailed as “America’s mayor” after his response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, was notorious for racially charged policing during his time as mayor of the city. More recently he spread baseless rumours about Clinton’s health, described Trump’s exploitation of the tax code as “genius” and, when reminded that he, Giuliani, had had marital infidelities in his past, shot back: “Everybody does.”

Christie is weighed down by low poll numbers in New Jersey after the so-called Bridgegate scandal of 2013, in which a huge traffic jam was deliberately created on the world’s busiest bridge to spite a mayor over a non-endorsement. Two of his former aides were found guilty of organising the stunt last week, but Christie continues to state that they acted without his knowledge.

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George Ajjan, a Republican strategist, said: “It’s entirely expected for Trump, having been scorned by so much of the Republican establishment, to reward lavishly those who climbed on board and never jumped ship. Gingrich and Giuliani have heavyweight credentials as well as a national profile and would thus be logical choices for prominent posts.

“The same might be said of Chris Christie had it not been for the Bridgegate scandal that continues to dog him, although he may yet float down to Washington on a life raft from the good ship Trump. The other thing to watch is the role to be played by Mike Pence, who may turn out to be the most hands-on and influential VP in modern US history.”

The election outcome, a repudiation of the political and media establishment that sent shockwaves around the world, suddenly opened the way for thousands of unexpected job applications from people who would not have found a home in Hillary Clinton administration.

Rich Galen, former press secretary to Dan Quayle, tweeted: “New definition of multi-tasking: Copying your resume for the Trump transition team while deleting anti-Trump Tweets from the past 18 months.”

In an interview, Galen said he knows Gingrich personally. “When he ran for president four years ago he had to give up a lot of contracts,” he said. “He’d have to live on cabinet secretary pay for four years and I don’t know if that’s very comfortable for him to contemplate.

“I would find it difficult to believe he could be confirmed as secretary of state; the Democrats in the Senate would filibuster. I could make a really strong case for secretary of defence.”

The Senate could have further objections to Trump loyalists, Galen believes. “In the Senate there would be some discomfort putting Christie or Giuliani, who were so partisan in supporting Trump, as attorney general. There has been concern over the politicisation of the justice department. Either would be a difficult sell for the Senate, but Giuliani would be terrific at homeland security.”

Speculation also swirled around White House press secretary, the public face of the administration. Names in contention include Boris Epshteyn, who anchored the campaign’s Facebook Live broadcasts; Jason Miller, the campaign’s senior communications adviser; and Sean Spicer, chief strategist and communications director of the RNC and an officer in the US navy reserves. Trump’s media-friendly campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, tweeted on Thursday that she had been offered a job in the White House, although she did not give further details.

Galen said: “If I had to put money on it, I would put it on Sean Spicer. He’s a very talented guy with a lot of Capitol Hill experience. He was a good trouper in the campaign without having to scream his head off.”

Rick Tyler, a political analyst and former spokesperson for Texas senator Ted Cruz, said: “Newt Gingrich would be happy to help in an informal advisory role but I don’t see him, at this stage in his life, taking a cabinet position. Trump should look at Ted Cruz who has enormous knowledge on foreign policy. He would be a good fit. He might also consider Bob Corker but I think Cruz would be a better choice.”

The Republican primary contest between Trump and Cruz was bitter, with Trump even suggesting that Cruz’s father could have had a role in the assassination of John F Kennedy, and Cruz savaging Trump as a “pathological liar”. But Tyler said: “I know they’ve spoke and there’s been some reconciliation. The best that Republicans can do is try to make the administration successful.”

Christie could be a contender for chief of staff, he added, not least because he would not have to go through a tricky Senate confirmation hearing because it is not a cabinet post.

