A long-time Trump ally, McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first presidency and donated millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.

Trump has criticised the Department of Education, and has promised to close it down - a job McMahon could be tasked with after Trump returns to the White House in January 2025.

Trump earlier chose Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor and former TV host whose approaches have come under scrutiny, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The two selections on Tuesday - along with Trump's choice of Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary - follow a pattern of the president-elect nominating loyal supporters to top roles in his cabinet.

McMahon has a long history with the WWE and Trump, who used to make occasional appearances at wrestling matches. She co-founded Titan Sports with her husband in 1980, which then became the parent company of WWE later that decade.

She resigned as CEO in 2009 in order to undertake a failed bid to run for the US Senate.

McMahon has little background in education, but did serve on Connecticut state's board of education from 2009 until 2010.

She is the board chair of the pro-Trump think tank the America First Policy Institute, meaning her confirmation in the Republican-majority Senate is likely. Hers is one of a number of top jobs that will require a vote of approval in the upper chamber of Congress.

Announcing his pick on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “For the past four years, as the chair of the board at the America First Policy Institute, Linda has been a fierce advocate for parents’ rights."

He said McMahon would "spearhead" the effort to "send education BACK TO THE STATES", in reference to his pledge to close the department.

Republicans have accused the education department of pushing what they describe as "woke" political ideology on to children, including on gender and race. They want the agency's authority handed to US states, which run most education matters.

McMahon was named in a lawsuit filed last month involving the WWE.

It alleges that she, her husband and other company leaders knowingly allowed young boys to be abused by a ringside announcer who died in 2012.

The McMahons deny wrongdoing. A lawyer representing the pair told USA Today Sports that the allegations are "false claims" that stem from "absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless" media reports.