“In naming Stephen K. Bannon to a senior White House post, President-elect Donald J. Trump has elevated the hard-right nationalist movement that Mr. Bannon has nurtured for years from the fringes of American politics to its very heart, a remarkable shift that has further intensified concern about the new administration’s direction,” the New York Times reports.

“Aides to President-elect Donald Trump are focusing on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton as the leading candidates to be the next secretary of state,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The choice between the two would force Mr. Trump to choose between Mr. Giuliani, a longtime friend and ally in New York, and Mr. Bolton, a hawkish conservative diplomat who called last year for the U.S. to bomb Iran.”

“A final decision could be several weeks away.”

Wall Street Journal: “During their private White House meeting on Thursday, Mr. Obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country, and Mr. Trump seemed surprised by the scope, said people familiar with the meeting. Trump aides were described by those people as unaware that the entire presidential staff working in the West Wing had to be replaced at the end of Mr. Obama’s term.”

“After meeting with Mr. Trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, Mr. Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said.”

Glenn Thrush: “This is what winging it looks like, America. Donald Trump is compulsively improvisational, and ran the most successful back-of-the-napkin operation in American political history, but the challenge confronting him is, by his own admission, nothing like anything anybody has ever faced. Like practically everybody else in the country, Trump (despite his statements to the contrary) really didn’t think he’d be spending this weekend trying to staff the upper management of the world’s sole remaining superpower.”

“It’s been five days since the reality TV star became the reality president and judging from his public pronouncements and a slightly dizzy 60 Minutes appearance, he still seems to be grappling with the vast implications of his stunning and unexpected victory. But in the past few days — amid protests in several major cities and a massive case of the national frights about his fitness to govern — Trump has made a handful of moves that offer the first hints of what kind of president he will be.”

President-elect Donald Trump will take $1 a year as his presidential salary, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year. But it’s a — I don’t even know what it is. Do you know what the salary is?”

When informed him that it’s $400,000, he added: “No, I’m not going to take the salary. I’m not taking it.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist in the White House has drawn a sharp rebuke from political strategists who see in Bannon a controversial figure too closely associated with the ‘alt-right’ movement, which white nationalists have embraced,” the Washington Post reports.

“The announcement has produced intense hand-wringing in Washington and sharp denunciations from political observers and strategists critical of Breitbart News’s close association with the alt-right, a fringe conservative movement saturated with racially insensitive rhetoric and elements of outright white nationalism.”

GOP strategist John Weaver on Twitter: “The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America.”

New York Times: “On Day 1, Mr. Trump has promised, he will redirect immigration enforcement, alter trade relations with China and other nations, relax restrictions on energy production, impose new rules on lobbyists, halt efforts to combat global warming, lift curbs on guns, push for congressional term limits and demand a new strategy for defeating the Islamic State. He may face some legal and procedural hurdles, but most of his Day 1 pledges involve issuing presidential directives, executive orders or memorandums that do not need legislative approval.”

President-elect Donald Trump named RNC chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Stephen Bannon, the former head of the alt-right news site Breitbart, will serve as chief strategist and senior counselor to the president.

Interestingly, Bannon was listed first in Trump’s statement.

New York Times: “Mr. Trump’s choice is certain to anger some of his most conservative supporters, many of whom expect him to battle the Washington establishment over issues like taxes, immigration, trade, health care and the environment. They view Mr. Priebus as a deal maker who will be too eager to push the new president toward compromise.”

Politico: “Priebus will bring to the White House a more functional relationship with congressional leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bannon had used Breitbart to undermine Ryan, whom Trump clashed with repeatedly throughout his campaign.”