Some members of Trump team can begin agency briefings: White House

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is now running the transition team after a shakeup that included the demotion of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

But by Thursday, Mr Trump’s team still had not delivered a series of required supporting documents, including certifications that each transition member would abide by a code of conduct and would not divulge sensitive information about the inner workings of the government. “When you go from politics to governing, there’s always some gear-grinding”, said Mike Leavitt, the former Utah governor and George W. Bush Cabinet secretary who oversaw Mitt Romney’s pre-election transition committee in 2012. McMaster also said he was told South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was being considered for secretary of state.

That stance was echoed by two other people acting as advisers to the transition team and who in recent days had severely limited their remarks about the progress in crafting the group of staffers that will accompany Trump to the White House. But people familiar with the latest discussions and one person who has spoken directly with Trump said the president-elect had growing reservations about Giuliani, who for 48 hours eagerly stoked news of his possible appointment.

He will say: “I Donald J Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God”. The transition has begun launching “buckets” (their term) of “landing teams” for three broad areas of executive-branch transition: national security, economy, and domestic policy teams. And his daughter, Ivanka Trump, sat in on Mr. Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in NY last week, raising questions about how involved she will be in White House business. It’s unclear whether Flynn, a retired Army general, has accepted the job, though a senior transition official confirmed Thursday that the president-elect has made the offer. “But I’m very confident, given Donald Trump’s business mindset, that he is executing and he will be ready on day one”. His moves to limit access post-election – and the lack of guidance on basic developments throughout his transition process, like readouts of calls from foreign leaders or briefings on his plans to fill out his administration – suggest that strained relationship with the media could continue well into the next four years of his administration. “We discussed the transition”, Giuliani said. He expressed confidence that by Trump’s January 20 inauguration, “everything will be in good hands”.

Hundreds of residents had signed a petition to remove the name after the release of a recording of Donald Trump boasting about kissing women without their consent.

That’s what the IN governor said as he left a closed-door meeting with House Republicans. It’s sort of like the Republican National Convention speeches all over again. Numerous remaining civilian agencies have said on background that they have not or have referred CNN to the White House statement from Hoffine.

What this means in terms of the GOP’s future political power can not be overstated.

Trump has also pledged to introduce ethics reforms that would expand the definition of lobbying to cut down on the revolving door in Washington, but it’s unclear whether that would apply to his transition. According to The Hill, current President Barack Obama has announced that he will spend more time with the President-elect. He said the paper has lost subscribers.

So he leaves office with his national party in ruins, an economy that has all but stopped growing, a broken government in need of a complete overhaul, and the GOP in full control of the levers of power.

Trump said he would demand that allies such as Japan and South Korea contribute more to the cost of basing USA troops in their countries.