Trump holds out olive branch in bid to unite divided party

DONALD Trump has moved to unite a divided Republican Party behind him by giving two former bitter critics – both women – key posts in his government.

After days in which he has alarmed many Americans by offering top jobs to a string of controversial conservatives whose only qualification appeared to be loyalty to him, Trump appeared to hold out an olive branch with his latest choices.

In what was seen as a nod to diversity after a run of choosing only older, white men, he has asked Nikki Haley, the Indian-American Republican governor of South Carolina, to be the US ambassador to the UN.

Betsy DeVos, a billioniare Republican donor and schools reformer, was named education secretary. In a third appointment that signalled a change of direction, Trump has indicated he wants Ben Carson, an African-American retired brain surgeon who challenged him for the Republican nomination, to be secretary of housing and urban development.

All three are conservatives but more mainstream than the people – including rightwinger Steve Bannon and hardline senator Jeff Sessions – already chosen for Trump’s administration.

Haley, 44, born Nimrata Randhawa to Sikh immigrants, is the youngest US governor and a rising star of a party whose leaders feel they must do more to appeal to ethnic minorities. – Daily Mail