Trump faces tough task
REUTERS WASHINGTON United States President-elect Donald Trump has shaken up his transition team as he plunges into the work of setting up his administration, elevating Vice President-elect Mike Pence to head the operation.
Yesterday’s move, one of the first key decisions as Trump pivots from campaigning to governing, amounts to a demotion for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who had been running the Republican’s transition planning for months.
Trump’s team has begun to embark upon building a government, an enormous undertaking that could require him to alter his hands-on management style and consider going outside his small, insular group of loyalists. He has been scrambling to identify people for top White House jobs and Cabinet posts, a herculean task that must be well in hand by the time he is inaugurated on January 20.
For Trump, who ran on a pledge to ‘‘drain the swamp’’ of Washington insiders, the team is strikingly heavy on those with long political resumes.
Another apparent contradiction emerged yesterday as Trump, who repeatedly vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act ‘‘on day one’’, said he would be open to maintaining portions of President Barack Obama’s signature legis- lative achievement.
Trump said Pence would ‘‘build on the initial work’’ done by Christie.
‘‘Together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding this nation – specifically jobs, security and opportunity,’’ he said.
Christie was a loyal adviser to Trump for much of the campaign, offered a key early endorsement, and came close to being the businessman’s pick for running mate. But Trump ultimately went with Indiana Governor Pence, a former congressman with Washington experience and deep ties to conservatives.
Christie said he was ‘‘proud to have run the pre-election phase’’ of the transition team, and thanked Trump for the ‘‘opportunity to continue to help lead’’.
Christie will still be involved in the transition, joining a cluster of other steadfast Trump supporters serving as vice-chairs: former House speaker Newt Gingrich, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, retired general Michael Flynn, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.
In addition, three of Trump’s adult children – Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka – are on the transition executive committee, along with Ivanka’s husband Jared Kushner, who played a significant role in Trump’s campaign and was spot- ted at the White House on Friday meeting with Obama’s chief of staff.
Trump also said that he wants ‘‘a country that loves each other’’ but said he did not regret his incendiary rhetoric during the campaign. ‘‘No. I won,’’ Trump said. Trump and Christie grew apart during the last stretch of the campaign. Christie became frustrated that Trump wouldn’t listen to his advice, particularly over the response to the release of a video in which the businessman was heard making predatory comments about women. AP