President-elect Donald Trump has tapped retired Marine Gen. John Kelly to lead his Department of Homeland Security, putting yet another high-ranking military officer into a key national security post, according to the Washington Post.

Trump has already made Marine Gen. James Mattis his defense secretary and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn his national security adviser, and he is considering retired Army Gen. David Petraeus for secretary of state.

Kelly, 66, is not expected to face difficulty being confirmed, according to the Post. He is viewed as a border security hawk who will please Trump backers looking for the president-elect to follow through on vows to limit immigration.

"Kelly is a very accomplished and patriotic American… who understands the security threat to the U.S. and would bring a lot of knowledge of tactical deterrence [and] the use of physical structures to deter illegal migratory flows across the border," Dan Stein, president of the conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform, told the Washington Examiner ahead of Kelly's anticipated appointment.



If confirmed by the Senate, the former head of U.S. Southern Command would bring four decades of military experience with him to the sprawling agency, which is sure to play a major role in implementing the next administration's ambitious immigration program. Trump has promised to immediately deport two to three million criminal illegal aliens once he takes office, a task that would largely fall to DHS, and to erect a massive 2,000-mile wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kelly has been credited with making significant advancements in U.S.-led efforts to curb the flow of drugs from Guatemala and other Latin American countries. He has also been an ally to Republicans who have denounced President Obama's push to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and, in some cases, relocate detainees to prisons in the United States.

"Everyone has real, no-kidding intelligence on them that brought them [to Guantanamo]," Kelly told the Military Times in January. "They were doing something negative, something bad, something violent and they were taken from the battlefield. There are no innocent men down there."

Kelly also commanded the Marines during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and played a major role leading combat forces against the Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi province of Al Anbar. The high-ranking general lost a son in Afghanistan and has since become an impassioned advocate for waging war against radicalized groups in the Middle East.

"He gives honest, unadulterated advice," Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), an early supporter of Trump's, said of Kelly in an interview with the Military Times last month.

"General Kelly has spent his life defending our nation and fully understands the critical role border security plays in protecting the country from the threats of terrorism, uncontrolled illegal immigration, and drugs," Stein said. "He will bring a renewed commitment to controlling our borders and ensuring the safety of the American homeland."

Kelly met with Trump and incoming White House chief-of-staff Reince Priebus for the first time last month, during which they discussed domestic security concerns, foreign affairs, and Kelly'sh experience. Trump transition officials told the Examiner Tuesday that the four-star general could be joined at the agency by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is at the top of the president-elect's list for deputy DHS secretary.

"The two of them would complement each other if that's what ends up working out," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Trump on Wednesday also tapped Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to be his ambassador to China. Formal announcements of both Branstad's and Kelly's appointments are likely to come Thursday.

The White House declined to comment on Trump's anticipated nomination of Kelly, who often clashed with Obama during his tenure at SOUTHCOM.

"I'm going to reserve comment on anybody that the president-elect has put forth for a senior cabinet position," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. "Many [Trump appointees] have positions that are different than positions that this administration has prioritized and that's obviously expected."

Sarah Westwood and Keith Koffler contributed to this report.