Trump press secretary Steven Cheung speaks to reporters in May in New York. MUST CREDIT: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday chose one of his most combative advisers as his next White House communications director, doubling down on his years-long confrontational approach to the news media as his team defends two controversial Cabinet picks facing new scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Trump tapped Steven Cheung, the communications director of his campaign, to lead his White House press shop, elevating a loyal spokesman and former Ultimate Fighting Championship staffer known for lobbing crude insults on social media. Although many of Trump’s press aides aggressively criticize the news media and relish taunting Democrats, Cheung stands out. His selection suggests Trump’s approach to the news media will be just as contentious in his second term as it was in his first, when White House press briefings often grew heated – if they happened at all.

The Friday announcement capped a breakneck week of often-controversial picks to run Trump’s next administration that will test lawmakers’ willingness to resist his demands. Trump’s selection of Matt Gaetz, one of his staunchest allies in Congress, for attorney general has brought renewed attention to allegations – which Gaetz emphatically denies – that he paid to have sex with a 17-year-old high school girl in violation of sex-trafficking laws.

The age of consent in Florida, where the incident allegedly occurred, is 18. And Trump’s surprise choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, faced new scrutiny this week after local officials in California confirmed that he was investigated in 2017 on sexual assault allegations. Hegseth was not charged and has denied wrongdoing.

Trump also selected Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary, the president’s most visible spokesperson. Leavitt, an alum of the first Trump administration and former congressional candidate, was the national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 campaign and shares his approach to the press.

“I have the great pleasure of fighting the fake news media all day, every day,” she said in a warm-up speech at one of Trump’s rallies.

Cheung indicated Friday that Trump would stand by Hegseth, saying he “has vigorously denied any and all accusations” and that “We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”

But the allegations surprised Trump transition officials, who now fear more negative revelations about Hegseth, according to a person familiar with the matter who, like several other people interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “There’s a lot of frustration around this,” the person said.

Senior officials on Trump’s transition team received extensive information about Hegseth’s past from a woman in recent days, and there were discussions about whether he should drop out, according to people briefed on what occurred.

Authorities in Monterey, California, have released little information about the allegations, saying in a written statement that a complaint was filed Oct. 12, 2017, after an alleged incident the night of Oct. 7, 2017, when Hegseth attended a Republican women’s conference.

Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Hegseth, said police investigated the allegations and “found no evidence for it.”

As Cheung defended Hegseth in the wake of the Monterey officials’ statement, Republicans in Congress were wrestling with whether to release a report about another Trump ally accused of sexual misconduct: Gaetz. The Florida congressman resigned from the House on Wednesday after Trump tapped him to lead the Justice Department, just days before the Ethics Committee was to vote on whether to release its report into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use and accepted improper gifts. Gaetz denies wrongdoing, and federal authorities closed their investigation without charges.

Some senators have said they want information about the investigation as they weigh Gaetz’s appointment. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, on Friday said he would push to keep it under wraps.

“I’m going to strongly request the Ethics Committee not to release the report because that is not the way we do things in the House, and I think that would be a terrible precedent,” Johnson said, despite suggesting a day earlier that the Speaker should not get involved in Ethics Committee affairs.

Gaetz and Hegseth could prove difficult to confirm in the Senate, where some GOP lawmakers immediately expressed concerns about their selection. Only a handful of Republican defections could derail their nominations.

Trump has moved quickly to assemble his next Cabinet and staff. In addition to Cheung, he announced Friday that Sergio Gor, who led a pro-Trump super PAC, would direct the presidential personnel office, a lesser-known but powerful post. Gor, who also coleads a company that has published Trump’s books, will have the title assistant to the president.

Gor and Cheung are longtime advisers whose selections reflect the premium Trump is placing on loyalty.

“Steven Cheung and Sergio Gor have been trusted Advisors since my first Presidential Campaign in 2016, and have continued to champion America First principles throughout my First Term, all the way to our Historic Victory in 2024,” Trump said in a statement.

Cheung embodies the Trump team’s brash, macho culture and embrace of crude attacks that galvanize his base. During the campaign he compared Joe Biden’s campaign to dysfunctional genitalia, hurled expletives and at one point called the husband of Kamala Harris’s campaign chair a crass term for someone with a cheating wife.

Trump also announced Friday that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, R, whom he tapped to become secretary of the interior, would chair a new National Energy Council of related departments and agencies. Trump said the council would seek to cut “red tape” and promote U.S. energy “dominance.”

Marianna Sotomayor and Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.