Trump talks with Gingrich, Perry with no rush on appointments
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump packed another day full of meetings with potential administration picks and those offering counsel, but a top adviser said there is no rush to fill the top ranks of his White House and Cabinet.
“His appointments will come out when he’s ready and not a moment sooner because these are big decisions and they shouldn’t be rushed,” Kellyanne Conway, who served as Trump’s campaign manager, said Monday in New York. She said the Trump team already is “weeks and weeks and weeks ahead” of previous presidential transitions.
On Trump’s schedule at his namesake Manhattan tower Monday were onetime primary rival Rick Perry, the former Texas governor; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump loyalist; Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who’s been mentioned as a potential secretary of the Department of the Interior; former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao; and former Sen. Scott Brown, a possible
candidate for Veterans Affairs. Also meeting with Trump was Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who broke with much of her party’s establishment to back Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton during the Democratic nomination race.
Along with potential administration officials, Trump met Monday with anchors and executives from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and CNN for an offthe-record discussion. During
his campaign, Trump had lashed out at all of the networks at some point for how they covered his run.
Conway called the session “very cordial, very productive, genial, but it was also very candid and very honest.”
Amid anti-Trump protests in some cities, Conway said the media share a responsibility to deliver the message that the election is settled and the results should be accepted.
Separately in an interview
Monday on Bloomberg Television’s “With All Due Respect” program, Conway dismissed questions about how Trump will deal with potential conflicts of interest involving his business empire. She said Trump has a team of legal advisers who will “make sure he complies with the law” regarding his financial affairs. Management of his businesses will be turned over to the control of his adult children, she said.
“He will have no authority whatsoever over his business,” Conway said.
Trump returned to New York after spending the weekend receiving a parade of visitors at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., including at least three potential treasury secretary candidates with deep Wall Street experience: billionaire investor Wilbur Ross; Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate at Blackstone Group; and David McCormick, president of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.
The transition team also announced more so-called landing teams that will begin meeting with top officials at federal agencies to begin the process of handing over the keys to a Trump administration. There are some 4,000 executive branch jobs that the new administration will be filling with political appointees.
Among those named to the landing teams were Charter Holdings Chief Executive Officer Ray Washburne, a Republican financier, to liaise with the Department of Commerce. Washburne also may be under consideration for interior secretary, CNBC reported, citing sources it didn’t identify.