“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.
Trump Focuses on Giuliani or Bolton for State Department
“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.”
Trump Surprised to Learn What President Actually Did
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.”
Trump Is Still Winging It
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.”
Trump Will Take $1 As Salary
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.”
Trump Draws Rebuke Over Appointing Bannon
“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.”
Trump Has a Busy First Day Planned
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.”
Priebus Picked as Chief of Staff
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.”
Laura Ingraham May Be Trump’s Press Secretary
Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham is under serious consideration to be Donald Trump’s White House press secretary, The Hill reports.
“Trump appreciated Ingraham’s loyalty through the campaign. A former white-collar defense attorney and Supreme Court law clerk, Ingraham helped Trump with debate preparation. She also campaigned on his behalf and offered occasional strategic advice.”
Insider Says Trump Pushed Christie Out
“President-elect Donald Trump is so disgusted with Chris Christie’s handling of the Bridgegate scandal that he’s kicking the New Jersey Gov. out of his inner circle,” the New York Post reports.
Said one source close to the transition team: “Trump thought it was shameful that Christie didn’t take the fall for [convicted aide] Bridget Kelly. Trump is really angry that Christie is sending a soccer mom to jail. He believes 100 percent that Christie was behind it all.”
Trump Faces a Wide Web of Business Conflicts
Bloomberg: “With his stunning election victory on Tuesday night, Trump now confronts more potential conflicts of interest than any other president in U.S. history. How — or even whether — the billionaire navigates this minefield could have sweeping implications at home and abroad.”
“How Trump, the first billionaire to become president, will handle these investments and other conflicts will face intense scrutiny, with little precedence to guide him or the public. No laws exist that will require him to distance himself from the Trump Organization. While he will be required to continue to file asset disclosures, presidents are otherwise mostly exempt from the 1978 Ethics in Government Act — an exception derived from the belief that such rules could keep commanders-in-chief from making tough decisions.”
Trump Seeks to Delay Trump University Trial
“Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are formally requesting the postponement of a trial scheduled to begin later this month in a federal class-action fraud suit over his Trump University real estate seminar program,” Politico reports.
“Attorneys for Trump said the looming jury trial should not divert him from the ‘critical and all- consuming’ work of preparing for the presidency.”
Trump Picks Will Set the Course for His Presidency
New York Times: “Rarely in the history of the American presidency has the exercise of choosing people to fill jobs had such a far-reaching impact on the nature and priorities of an incoming administration. Unlike most new presidents, Mr. Trump comes into office with no elective-office experience, no coherent political agenda and no bulging binder of policy proposals. And he has left a trail of inflammatory, often contradictory, statements on issues from immigration and race to terrorism and geopolitics.”
“In such a chaotic environment, serving a president who is in many ways a tabula rasa, the appointees to key White House jobs like chief of staff and cabinet posts like secretary of state, defense secretary and Treasury secretary could wield outsize influence.”
Even Trump’s Inner Circle Not Sure How He’ll Govern
Gabriel Sherman: “If you’re one of the millions of Americans wrestling with the question of how Donald Trump will govern as president, consider this: His inner circle doesn’t know either.”
“Since Tuesday’s stunning election result, I’ve spoken with Trump advisers and GOP officials in Washington about the state of Trump’s transition planning to get a sense of what kind of place the Trump White House will be. What they describe is a candidate who is still something of a mystery, even to them.“
Said one: “It is basically a blank slate that needs to be filled in.”
Kushner Didn’t Know All Obama Staff Would Leave
Los Angeles Times: “Trump’s children and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who guided him throughout the campaign, appear to have retained their influence in an official capacity. Kushner’s presence at the White House on Thursday drew notice from Obama’s staff when he asked, as they toured the West Wing, how many of the individuals there would remain into the next administration. Nearly all will depart along with the president.”
Infighting Hits Trump Transition
“The bitter infighting that plagued Donald Trump’s campaign during the Republican presidential primary is starting to spill over into his team’s efforts to establish an administration and political operation,” Politico reports.
“The tensions played a role in a Friday shakeup in which the president-elect replaced his transition team chief Chris Christie with his running mate Mike Pence. Sources familiar with the move say it was precipitated partly by clashes between Christie’s allies and rival factions on the transition team, as well as Trump’s influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.”
Trump Children on Transition Despite Conflicts
Washington Post: “Trump, in a broad transition shake-up announced Friday, also gave his son-in-law and three eldest children official roles as transition advisers. The involvement of Trump’s adult children raises the specter of conflicts of interest, since they are poised to manage Trump’s business over the next four years.”
“Asked how the Trump children could do both, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization provided The Daily Beast with few answers.”