Introduction: Why Track Trump?
Issues (an outline of categories in weekly compilations)
Week 1 -- November 9-15, 2016
Week 2 -- November 16-22, 2016
Explanatory Note for Weeks 3 and 4
Highlights and Trends
Week 3 -- November 23-29, 2016
Week 4 -- November 30-December 6, 2016
Explanatory Note for Weeks 3 and 4
Highlights and Trends
Week 5 -- December 7-December 13, 2016
Week 6 -- December 14-December 20, 2016
Week 7 -- December 21-December 27, 2016
Week 8 -- December 28-January 3, 2017
Week 9 -- January 4-January 10, 2017
Week 10 -- January 11-January 17, 2017
This project is designed to make available a daily update and a repository of the news and comment regarding President-Elect Donald Trump, from the time of the election to the time of the inauguration. It is organized both by weeks (this page will contain material from weeks 5 and 6) and by topics (click on "Issues," above, to see the annotated outline).
The outline of topics will remain constant throughout all weeks (even if there are no entries for a given topic). (Of course, the text can also be approached with a "find" or "search" request by an individual's name or other search term.) Because of the volume of material, it is organized by two-week segments. The links, above, to "Week 1" and "Week 2," go to the first post which contains the introductory material and news and opinion from the first two weeks. The second posting is a page for "Week 3" and "Week 4."
You may draw different conclusions from the first five or six weeks' of President-Elect Trump's statements and decisions, but here are some of mine:
- Having won with the support of the white working class, Trump has, so far, done nothing (of which I'm aware), with his appointments or post-election proposals, speech, or actions, to serve the interests of consumers and working class Americans -- let alone appointees or proposals that would be opposed by Wall Street, corporate America, or the wealthiest 1%. (I discount the Carrier deal for reasons explained on this page.)
- Trump has, however, demonstrated an ability and inclination to flip-flop from some of his campaign rhetoric in directions that are (to me) desirable (e.g., waterboarding).
- What is becoming increasingly "huge" with every passing week is Trump's inevitable conflicts of interest (as a president engaged in negotiations with other countries in which decisions will affect the profits of his global businesses) are becoming more obvious and serious as he is already blending the roles while President-Elect.
- Most appointees, so far, however bright or not, appear to have had little education, training, or experience to qualify them for the jobs they will hold; Trump's total lack of government or military administrative experience results in his lack of a network of experienced ("trustworthy and loyal") former associates that, say, a former governor might have.
- Some of his appointees appear to have been chosen, not only in spite of, but perhaps because of, a single ideological focus (often contrary to the mission of the agency they're appointed to run); and for a nation that prides itself on "civilian control of the military," his Administration is becoming a little top heavy with generals in those "civilian" positions.
- There is a residual from Trump's use of hate as a motivating force in his campaign that continues to spike the numbers of hate crimes, is dangerous, counter to any goal of "bringing America together," and that Trump has done little to discourage.
Transition.
Matthew Rosenberg, Maggie Haberman and Eric Schmitt, "Trump Fires Adviser's Son From Transition for Spreading Fake News," New York Times, December 7, 2016, p. A20 ("[Trump] fired [Gen. Michael T. Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn] for using Twitter to spread a fake news story about Hillary Clinton [running a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizza parlor] that led to an armed confrontation in a pizza restaurant in Washington.")
Leaders.
Appointments Recap:
o Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President: Steve Bannon (Week 1/"Leaders")
o Chief of Staff: Reince Priebus (Week 1/"Leaders")
o National Security Adviser: Lt. General Michael T. Flynn (Week 2/"Leaders")
o Attorney General: Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (Week 2/"Leaders")
o CIA Director: Congressman Michael Richard Pompeo (Week 2/"Leaders")
o Ambassador to the United Nations: Governor Nikki Haley (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Deputy National Security Adviser: K.T. McFarland (Week 3/"Leaders")
o White House Counsel: Mark Landler (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Congressman Tom Price (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Education: Betsy DeVos (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of the Treasury: Steven Mnuchin (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Defense: General James Mattis (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Transportation: Elaine L. Chao (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development: Dr. Ben Carson (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Commerce: Wilbur Ross (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce: Todd Ricketts (Week 4/"Leaders")
[Role of Goldman Sachs and the wealthy]
"Remember Trump’s talk about taking on the elites and the well-connected? Well, you can stick a sterling-silver fork in it. . . . [There are] at least three billionaires in Trump’s Cabinet and sub-cabinet, in addition to Trump himself: would-be education secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family worth is $5.1 billion, commerce secretary pick Wilbur Ross ($2.9 billion), and deputy commerce choice Todd Ricketts, whose family fortune is also in the billions. Harold Hamm, a possible energy secretary, is worth $15 billion. . . . [Trump] named former Goldman Sachs partner (and Hollywood executive) Steven Mnuchin to be his treasury secretary. And he’s reportedly in talks to hire Goldman’s No. 2 executive, Gary Cohn, to be his budget director. . . . Alt-right ally Stephen K. Bannon, to be Trump’s White House strategist, also used to work at Goldman." Dana Milbank, "Stick a sterling silver fork in Trump’s ‘populism,’" Washington Post, November 30, 2016.
"George W. Bush['s] . . . Cabinet in 2001 . . . dubbed . . . a team of millionaires . . . combined had an inflation-adjusted net worth of about $250 million — . . . one-tenth the wealth of Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary alone. Trump is putting together what will be the wealthiest administration in modern American history . . . several multimillionaires, an heir to a family mega-fortune and two Forbes-certified billionaires, one of whose family is worth as much as industrial tycoon Andrew Mellon was when he served as treasury secretary nearly a century ago. . . . Their collective wealth in many ways defies Trump’s populist campaign promises." Jim Tankersley and Ana Swanson, "Donald Trump is assembling the richest adminiistration in modern American history," Washington Post, November 30, 2016.
And see, Landon Thomas Jr. and Alexandra Stevenson, "Trump's Economic Cabinet Picks Signal Embrace of Wall St. Elite," New York Times, December 1, 2016, p. A1.
[Leaders, Week 5]
Secretary, Department of Labor: Andrew Puzder. Noam Scheiber and Maggie Haberman, "Trump's Labor Pick, Andrew Puzder, Is Critic of Minimum Wage Increases," New York Times, December 8, 2016 ("Trump [on Dec. 8] named Andrew F. Puzder [CEO of Hardee's and Carl's Jr.] an outspoken crdtic of . . . worker protections . . . to be secretary of labor. [He] . . . opposed . . . expand[ed] eligibility for overtime pay [and] large minimum wage increases . . .. Puzder will arguably have less experience in government than any labor secretary since the early 1980s . . .. [He says] 'I like our ads' featuring scantily clad women. 'I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very American.'")
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt. Washiington Post Staff, "Trump said to pick Scott Pruitt to head EPA, an agency he is suing as Oklahoma attorney general," Washington Post, December 8, 2016 (The story in its online entirety: "The nomination of Pruitt, confirmed by a transition official, signals Trump's intention to dismantle President Obama’s chief climate change policy. Pruitt, who has written that the debate on climate change is 'far from settled,' is part of a coalition of state attorneys general suing the agency over the administration’s Clean Power Plan. This is a developing story. It will be updated.") Coral Davenport and Eric Lipton, "Trump Picks Scott Pruitt, Climate Change Denialist, to Lead E.P.A.," New York Times, December 8, 2016, p. A1. Editorial, "An Enemy of the E.P.A. to Head It," New York Times, December 8, 2016, p. A30 ("Since becoming Oklahoma's top legal officer in 2011, [Scott Pruitt] has been a bitter opponent of the E.P.A. [the agency Trump has appointed him to head] . . .. [In 2014 Pruitt] had helped organize an “unprecedented, secretive alliance” between Republican attorneys general and large energy companies to attack the E.P.A. — and one of the letters he sent complaining to the agency had in fact been written by industry lawyers.")
Administrator, Small Business Administration: Linda McMahon. Jonathan Martin, Chris Buckley, Amy Chozick and Maggie Haberman, "Trump Taps Linda McMahon to Head Small Business Administration," New York Times, December 8, 2016 ("Linda McMahon, the former chief executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, was selected on Wednesday by Mr. Trump to head the Small Business Administration, adding another billionaire to the president-elect’s affluent stable. . . . She contributed $6 million to a 'super PAC' supporting Mr. Trump in August and September [2015], according to federal election filings.")
Ambassador to China: Governor Terry Branstad. Binyamin Appelbaum, "Terry Branstad, Iowa Governor, Is Trump's Pick as China Ambassador,", New York Times, December 8, 2016, p. A20 ("Terry Branstad, the Iowa governor who has long embraced China as a market for his state's pork and soybeans, was tapped Wednesday [Dec. 7] . . . to represent the United States in one of its most complex and increasingly contentious foreign relationships, as . . . ambassador to China." Brandstad has no education, training, foreign service, or federal government experience that would enable him to advance the broad spectrum of our nation's interests to a nation with one of the world's largest populations and economies. Trump emphasized his role in promoting Iowa's export of Iowa's agricultural products to China, his prior trips to China, and acquaintance with China's president.")
Secretary, Department of Homeland Security: General John Kelly. Mark Landler and Maggie Haberman, "Donald Trump Picks John Kelly, Retired General, to Lead Homeland Security," New York Times, December 8, 2016, p. A1 ("General Kelley would be [Trump's] the third retired general [pick]." The others: General Mattis, Secretary, DOD; Lt. Gen. Flynn, National Security Adviser; plus consideration of General Petraeus for Secretary of State. "[I]t is General Kelly's experience with nonmilitary issues at Southern Command that put him in line for the Homeland Security post. . . . It gets deeply involved in . . . migration, organized crime and disaster relief . . ..")
International.
From Trump's campaign praise of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, through the CIA's conclusion that Putin was responsible for the hacking and releasing of Clinton campaign documents in an effort to improve Trump's chances of being elected, and Trump's characteristic response in the form of attack on the CIA, to his appointment of a Secretary of State of someone said to be the American with the closest ties to Putin (and the recipient of Russia's highest award to a non-Russian), the role of Russia in our most recent presidential election has been concerning.
With regard to these efforts by Russia to elect Donald Trump, for those conservative members of our Electoral College who believe we should always start a constitutional analysis with the "original intent" of the founders, I offer Benjamin Franklin's warning in his defense of the Electoral College -- a major reason, and argument for its creation and function:
"Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils. How could they better gratify this, than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union?"Benjamin Franklin, "The Mode of Electing the President," The Federalist Papers, No. 68, March 14, 1788,
Given both the extraordinary significance of these issues, and the quantity of recent stories, I am listing the headlines and links on more stories that might have otherwise been listed, but relying on their headlines to provide a sense of subject rather than further lengthening this insert with quotes from each. So, see generally,
David E. Sanger and Scott Shane, "Russia Hacked Republican Committee but Kept Data, U.S. Concludes," New York Times, December 10, 2016, p. A1Other countries' governments not only have embassies in Washington, they also have lobbyists and lawyers. At least when it came to Taiwan, where Trump wants to build more properties, the change in a 40-year-old U.S. policy, with the phone call from Taiwan's president to Trump, was the work of a lobbyist whose name you will recall. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Eric Lipton, "Bob Dole Worked Behind the Scenes on Trump-Taiwan Call," New York Times, December 7, 2016, p. A1.
Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller, "Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House," Washington Post, December 9, 2016
David E. Sanger, "Trump, Mocking Claim That Russia Hacked Election, at Odds with G.O.P.," New York Times, December 11, 2016, p. A1
David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman and Clifford Krauss, "Rex Tillerson, Exxon Chief, Is Expected to Be Picked for Secretary of State," New York Times, December 11, 2016, p. A1
Ellen Makashima and Adam Entous, "FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russia's motives in 2016 hacks," Washington Post, December 11, 2016
David Nakamura and Greg Miller, "Trump, CIA on collision course over Russia's role in U.S. election," Washington Post, December 11, 2016
Steven Mufson and Philip Rucker, "Trump expected to pick Exxon Mobil chief Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state," Washington Post, December 11, 2016
Mark Mazzetti and Eric Lichtblau, "C.I.A. Judgment on Russia Built on Swell of Evidence," New Yiork Times, December 12, 2016, p. A1
Elise Viebeck, "Trump denies CIA report that Russia intervened to help him win election," Washington Post, December 12, 2016
Elise Viebeck and Karoun Demirjian, "Key GOP senators join call for bipartisan Russia election probe, even as their leaders remain mum," Washington Post, December 12, 2016
Jennifer Steinhauer, "Senate and House Leaders Call for Inquiry of Russian Hacking in Election," New York Times, December 13, 2016, p. A1
Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, "Rex Tillerson, Exxon C.E.O., Chosen as Secretary of State," New York Times, December 13, 2016, p. A1
Editorial, "Flawed Choices for the State Department," New York Times, December 13, 2016, p. A30
Steven Mufson, Philip Rucker and Karoun Demirjian, "Trump Picks ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state," Washington Post, December 13, 2016
Karoun Demirjian, Paul Kane and Ed O'Keefe, "Dispute over Russia reflects growing Republican resistance to Trump," Washington Post, December 13, 2016
Greg Miller and Adam Entous, "U.S. intelligence officials say Russian hacks 'prioritized' Democrats," Washington Post, December 13, 2016
Conflicts.
A clear, easily understood, visual graphic of Trump's conflicts of interest is available: Larry Buchanan and Karen Yourish, The Array of Conflicts of Interest Facing the Trump Presidency," New York Times, December 1, 2016 (graphic includes Trump's D.C. hotel, Deutsche Bank, I.R.S., N.L.R.B., and foreign interests)
And it doesn't look like he intends anything very effective about it: Maggie Haberman and Jo Becker, "Donald Trump Is Said to Intend to Keep a Stake in His Business," New York Times, December 8, 2016, p. A1
Editorial, "One Job Is Enough. Sell the Hotel." New York Times, December 10, 2016, p. 22 ("Trump won’t be stepping down from his role as an executive producer on 'The New Celebrity Apprentice' — an unprecedented situation in which the commander in chief would have a job on the side. Maybe this was to be expected since Mr. Trump doesn’t appear willing to give up ownership of his other profit centers either. He seems to think that putting his two adult sons in charge of his various business operations — golf courses, licensing deals and hotels — is enough to mute concerns over his conflicts of interest, which could take pay-to-play government corruption to a whole new level. But it won't.)
Even the Wall Street Journal agrees that the only proper response to Trump's conflict of interest problems is to sell his hotels, golf courses, and other assets, and put the cash into a blind trust. Editorial, "The Trump Family Political Business; The Left Is Already Teeing This Up as a Daily Target. Answer: Liquidate," Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2016
And see, "Bob Dole Worked Behind the Scenes on Trump-Taiwan Call," in "International," immediately above.
And see, "Temperment," below for story and editorial regarding Trump's mocking the U.S. security agencies' report concluding that Putin was trying to aid Trump's election.
Temperament.
Michael D. Shear, "Trump as Cyberbully in Chief? Twitter Attack on Union Boss Draws Fire," New York Times, December 9, 2016, p. A1 (Following the President of Steelworkers Local 1999 calling out Trump for claiming to have "saved" more jobs than was true, "In what one Republican strategist described as 'cyberbullying,' [Trump] derided Mr. [Chuck] Jones [President, Steelworkers Local 1999] on Twitter . . . blaming him for the decisions by companies that ship American jobs overseas.")
Jenna Johnson, "This is what happens when Donald Trump attacks a private citizen on Twitter," Washington Post, December 9, 2016 ("Twitter has become Trump’s cyber-magic wand, allowing him to quickly act on a fleeting idea, a fit of anger or something he sees on television. Now that he is the president-elect, the power of Trump’s tweets has only increased. With one tweet, Trump can change headlines on cable news, move financial markets or cause world leaders to worry. With one tweet last week, Trump inflamed a conflict with China. With another tweet on Tuesday, Trump caused Boeing stock to plummet. With a third on Wednesday night, Trump prompted a series of threatening calls to the home of a union leader who had called him a liar [regarding Trump's claim of number of jobs saved at Carrier].")
David E. Sanger, "Trump, Mocking Claim That Russia Hacked Election, at Odds with G.O.P.," New York Times, December 11, 2016, p. A1 ("An extraordinary breach has emerged between President-elect Donald J. Trump and the national security establishment, with Mr. Trump mocking American intelligence assessments that Russia interfered in the election on his behalf, and top Republicans vowing investigations into Kremlin activities. . . . On Saturday [Dec. 10], intelligence officials said . . . the C.I.A. altered its formal assessment of Russia’s activities to conclude that . . . Putin was not just trying to undermine the election, but had also acted to give one candidate an advantage. . . . Trump['s] . . . transition office said in a statement on Friday night [Dec. 9] that 'these are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,' . . .. 'To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow,' said Michael V. Hayden, who was the director of the N.S.A. and later the C.I.A. under President George W. Bush."
Editorial, "Truth and Lies in the Age of Trump,"New York Times, December 11, 2016, p. SR10 ("Trump understood . . .: The breakdown of a shared public reality built upon widely accepted facts represented not a hazard, but an opportunity. . . . Because Mr. Trump himself has little regard for facts, it was easy for him to capitalize on this situation.")
Media.
Divisions.
Nicole Gaouette and Jennifer Rizzo, "Flynn As National Security Adviser," CNN Politics, December 7, 2016 ("Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn, the 57-year-old former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, has been selected as the next US national security adviser. He has also spread false stories and re-tweeted anti-Semitic threats. He's been criticized for dabbling in conspiracy theories and Islamophobia, for his questionable ties to foreign governments and for mishandling classified information while at the DIA, a post he was pushed out of. On Monday, 53 non-profit groups appealed to Trump to reconsider the appointment, as lawmakers publicly questioned Flynn's judgment and demanded that he disavow fabricated conspiracy theories such as the "Pizzagate" story -- which his son Michael Flynn Jr. promoted -- alleging that Democrats ran a child sex ring out of a Washington pizza restaurant.")
Matthew Rosenberg, Maggie Haberman and Eric Schmitt, "Trump Fires Adviser's Son From Transition for Spreading Fake News," New York Times, December 7, 2016, p. A20 ("[Trump] fired [Gen. Michael T. Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn] for using Twitter to spread a fake news story about Hillary Clinton [running a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizza parlor] that led to an armed confrontation in a pizza restaurant in Washington.")
Policy.
Immigration.
Healthcare.
Infrastructure.
Economy
So far, Trump's proposals and efforts to improve the nation's economy, and create jobs for Americans, has fallen short of his campaign promises and even his characterizations of his "deals." Ana Swanson, "Donald Trump’s deal to create 50,000 jobs in America looks a lot different on Day Two," Washington Post, December 8, 2016 ("When President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Japanese corporate giant SoftBank had agreed to invest $50 billion in the United States and create 50,000 new jobs, he presented it as a triumph for American workers. But economists and analysts who have been scrutinizing the announcement suggest it might be a bigger win for the Japanese telecom and Internet conglomerate, SoftBank, and its billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son. Analysts said the Japanese company could be angling for lucrative benefits, including the regulatory approval to carry out one of the largest telecom mergers in recent history, between Sprint, which SoftBank owns, and rival carrier T-Mobile.")
Michael D. Shear and Christopher Drew, "'Cancel Order!' Donald Trump Attacks Plans for Upgraded Air Force One," New York Times, December 7, 2016, p. A1. Drew Harwell and Rosalind S. Helderman, "Trump’s unpredictable style unnerves corporate America," Washington Post, December 7, 2016
Vikas Bajaj, "Donald Trump's Company-by-Company Industrial Policy," New York Times, December 8, 2016, p. A30 ("In a flurry of tweets, interviews and deal making, President-elect Donald Trump has made clear that he will take an active role in shaping industrial policy — one business at a time. He’s already shown off this approach with United Technologies, Boeing and SoftBank. . . . [F]ew ['top executives'] will be likely to dare say a negative word. They are well aware that one bad tweet from him can send their stock prices tumbling.")
Energy.
Education.
Backlash This is a new category [Dec. 9] to note significant negative responses to Trump's appointees, policies, talk, and actions -- from in and out of government, from those of various political parties and ideologies.
Karoun Demirjian, "Republicans ready to launch wide-ranging probe of Russia, despite Trump’s stance," Washington Post, December 9, 2016 ("Leading Senate Republicans are preparing to launch a coordinated and wide-ranging probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. elections and its potential cyberthreats to the military, digging deep into what they view as corrosive interference in the nation’s institutions. Such an aggressive approach puts them on a direct collision course with President-elect Donald Trump, who downplays the possibility Russia had any role in the November elections . . .. The fracture could become more prominent after Trump is inaugurated and begins setting foreign policy.")
Editorial, "California Looks to Lead the Trump Resistance,"New York Times, December 9, 2016, p. A30 ("Nobody knows yet what Donald Trump is going to do to immigration enforcement. . . . [T]he president-elect is no different from the candidate: erratic, self-contradictory, hazy on principles and policies. But states and cities that value immigrants . . . are girding for a confrontation, building defenses to protect families and workers from the next administration.")
Transition.
Leaders.
Appointments Recap:
o Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President: Steve Bannon (Week 1/"Leaders")
o Chief of Staff: Reince Priebus (Week 1/"Leaders")
o National Security Adviser: Lt. General Michael T. Flynn (Week 2/"Leaders")
o Attorney General: Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (Week 2/"Leaders")
o CIA Director: Congressman Michael Richard Pompeo (Week 2/"Leaders")
o Ambassador to the United Nations: Governor Nikki Haley (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Deputy National Security Adviser: K.T. McFarland (Week 3/"Leaders")
o White House Counsel: Mark Landler (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Congressman Tom Price (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Education: Betsy DeVos (Week 3/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of the Treasury: Steven Mnuchin (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Defense: General James Mattis (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Transportation: Elaine L. Chao (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development: Dr. Ben Carson (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Commerce: Wilbur Ross (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce: Todd Ricketts (Week 4/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Labor: Andrew Puzder (Week 5/"Leaders")
o Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt (Week 5/"Leaders")
o Administrator, Small Business Administration: Linda McMahon (Week 5/"Leaders")
o Ambassador to China: Governor Terry Branstad (Week 5/"Leaders")
o Secretary, Department of Homeland Security: General John Kelly (Week 5/"Leaders")
[Role of Goldman Sachs and the wealthy]
"Remember Trump’s talk about taking on the elites and the well-connected? Well, you can stick a sterling-silver fork in it. . . . [There are] at least three billionaires in Trump’s Cabinet and sub-cabinet, in addition to Trump himself: would-be education secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family worth is $5.1 billion, commerce secretary pick Wilbur Ross ($2.9 billion), and deputy commerce choice Todd Ricketts, whose family fortune is also in the billions. Harold Hamm, a possible energy secretary, is worth $15 billion. . . . [Trump] named former Goldman Sachs partner (and Hollywood executive) Steven Mnuchin to be his treasury secretary. And he’s reportedly in talks to hire Goldman’s No. 2 executive, Gary Cohn, to be his budget director. . . . Alt-right ally Stephen K. Bannon, to be Trump’s White House strategist, also used to work at Goldman." Dana Milbank, "Stick a sterling silver fork in Trump’s ‘populism,’" Washington Post, November 30, 2016.[Leaders, Week 6]
"George W. Bush['s] . . . Cabinet in 2001 . . . dubbed . . . a team of millionaires . . . combined had an inflation-adjusted net worth of about $250 million — . . . one-tenth the wealth of Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary alone. Trump is putting together what will be the wealthiest administration in modern American history . . . several multimillionaires, an heir to a family mega-fortune and two Forbes-certified billionaires, one of whose family is worth as much as industrial tycoon Andrew Mellon was when he served as treasury secretary nearly a century ago. . . . Their collective wealth in many ways defies Trump’s populist campaign promises." Jim Tankersley and Ana Swanson, "Donald Trump is assembling the richest adminiistration in modern American history," Washington Post, November 30, 2016.
And see, Landon Thomas Jr. and Alexandra Stevenson, "Trump's Economic Cabinet Picks Signal Embrace of Wall St. Elite," New York Times, December 1, 2016, p. A1.
Secretary, Department of State: Rex Tillerson
David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman and Clifford Krauss, "Rex Tillerson, Exxon Chief, Is Expected to Be Picked for Secretary of State," New York Times, December 11, 2016, p. A1Secretary, Department of Interior: Ryan Zinke Coral Davenport, "Trump Is Said to Offer Interior Job to Ryan Zinke, Montana Lawmaker," New York Times, December 14, 2016, A20 ("Mr. Zinke, 55, called Hillary Clinton 'the Antichrist' . . .. Asked . . . about . . . climate change [he said], 'It's not a hoax, but it's not proven science either.'" [Earlier in story:] "[It] would round out Mr. Trump's choices to lead the four agencies that will shape the future of the nation's energy and climate change policies." Pruitt [to be EPA head] "has built a career out of suing the [EPA] . . .." Perry [Secretary, Department of Energy] "who vowed to eliminate the Energy Department . . .." Tillerson, "the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to head the State Department, which negotiates international climate change agreements.")
Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, "Rex Tillerson, Exxon C.E.O., Chosen as Secretary of State," New York Times, December 13, 2016, p. A1
Editorial, "Flawed Choices for the State Department," New York Times, December 13, 2016, p. A30
Steven Mufson, Philip Rucker and Karoun Demirjian, "Trump Picks ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state," Washington Post, December 13, 2016
Secretary, Department of Energy: Governor Rick Perry Coral Davenport, "Rick Perry, Ex-Governor of Texas, Is Trump's Pick as Energy Secretary," New York Times, December 14, 2016, p. A1 (Perry, a former Texas governor and oil industry enthusiast, once advocated abolishing the department he's being nominated to head -- although at the time when he mentioned three departments he'd eliminate he couldn't recall the name of the third: the Department of Energy. Whatever he may know about oil, he has no background with regard to 60% of the Department's business -- "the National Nuclear Security Administration, [devoted to] enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science." The last two secretaries of energy each had a Ph.D. in physics and one was a Nobel Prize winner. Perry has neither on his resume.")
Chief of Staff, National Security Council: Keith Kellogg (Kellogg is a former Army Lieutenant General who has been in the private sector since retiring in 2003. "Trump Taps Retired General, TV Analyst for NSC Posts," Reuters, December 15, 2016 )
Senior Director of Strategic Communications, National Security Council: Monica Crowley (although the Transition Team's statement said Ms. Crowley "is a foreign affairs and political analyst for the Fox News Channel," Fox News said her contract "had been terminated." "Trump Taps Retired General, TV Analyst for NSC Posts," Reuters, December 15, 2016
International.
Russia. Russia has played a variety of roles in Trump's campaign, election, and appointments. U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, wanted Trump to win, and engaged in hacking Democratic Party, and Clinton campaign, computers to enable the distribution of anti-Clinton material to that end.
Some influential Republican colleagues are baffled, upset and embarrassed with Trump's seeming admiration of Putin. Sabrina Siddiqui, "Republicans struggle to explain Trump's fondness for 'murderer and thug' Putin," The Guardian, September 8, 2016 (South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said of Trump's admiration for Putin, "If you’re running for leader of the free world and you’re expressing admiration for Putin, well then you’re losing me. I think Vladimir Putin is a thug, a dictator, an autocratic ruler who has his opposition killed in the streets of Russia. He has dismembered his neighbor. I’m not going to say [as Trump did] that Putin’s a better leader than a democratically elected president of the United States even though I have differences with him [President Obama]. This whole idea of admiring Putin is the biggest misunderstanding of a relationship in a person since Munich." The committee's chair, Arizona Senator John McCain simply dismisses Putin as "a murderer and a thug.”)
By contrast, Trump, who has been willing to attack everyone from beauty queens to Gold Star mothers in language many find mean-spirited, cruel, and inappropriate, has heaped praise on Putin and, so far as I am aware, has never said any unkind or critical word about him.
After Putin's successful participation in Trump's electoral college victory, Putin has now been rewarded with a U.S. Secretary of State whom one can only imagine would have been his first choice for that position as well. Nicholas Kristof, "Donald Trump: The Russian Poodle," New York Times, December 18, 2016, p. SR11 ("I never thought I would see a dispute between America’s intelligence community and a murderous foreign dictator in which an American leader sided with the dictator. . . . Russia apparently was trying to elect a president who would be not a puppet exactly but perhaps something of a lap dog -- a Russian poodle. . . . Frankly, it’s mystifying that Trump continues to defend Russia and Putin . . .. [T]he most reckless step of all: This Russian poodle is acting in character by giving important government posts to friends of Moscow, in effect rewarding it for its attack on the United States. Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, . . . is particularly close to Putin, who [gave him] Russia’s 'Order of Friendship.'”)
Trump insists he has "zero" Russian investments. But he apparently has "many, many, many, many" Russian investors. John Nesbit, "Donald Trump’s Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia," TIME, August 2, 2016 (Although Trump insists "I have ZERO investments in Russia,” Nesbit writes, "the real truth is that, as major banks in America stopped lending him money following his many bankruptcies, the Trump organization was forced to seek financing from non-traditional institutions. Several had direct ties to Russian financial interests in ways that have raised eyebrows. What’s more, several of Trump’s senior advisors have business ties to Russia or its satellite politicians." The story goes on to document an array of Trump's reliance on Russian financing.)
Trump's son, Donald J. Trump Jr. (39), agrees: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There's indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble." Oren Dorell, "Why does Donald Trump like Russians? Maybe because they love his condos," USA Today, December 16, 2016 ("These business dealings explain Trump's comfort level with a country — and its authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin — at a time when President Obama and both parties in Congress are alarmed over a series of Russian actions . . ..")
Nor has the Russian involvement been limited to Putin's government. The "alt-right" movement is global. Stephen Bannon, Trump's chief White House Strategist, served as chair of Breitbart News (a "hard-right news and opinion site") now operating in European countries as well as the U.S. Daniel Victor and Liam Stack, "Stephen Bannon and Breitbart News, in Their Words," New York Times, November 15, 2016, p. A14.
And comparable organizations and publications in Russia and Europe have their presence in the U.S. Mike McIntire, "How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans," New York Times, December 18, 2016, p. A1 ("Patriot News -- whose postings were viewed and shared tens of thousands of times in the United States -- is among constellation of websites run out of the United Kingdom that are linked to James Dowson, a far-right political activist who advocated Britain’s exit from the European Union and is a fan of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. A vocal proponent of Christian nationalist, anti-immigrant movements in Europe, Mr. Dowson, 52, has spoken at a conference of far-right leaders in Russia and makes no secret of his hope that Mr. Trump will usher in an era of rapprochement with Mr. Putin.")
Conflicts.
Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman, "Available to the Highest Bidder: Coffee With Ivanka Trump," New York Times, December 16, 2016, p. A1 ("Ozan M. Ozkural, . . . investment manager . . . bid nearly $60,000 to have a cup of coffee with Ivanka Trump . . .. [He] wanted . . . insight into . . . Trump's possible future dealings with Turkey and other nations where [he] invests . . .." Article contains full discussion of this and related conflicts.)
Temperament.
Media.
Divisions.
Policy.
Immigration.
Healthcare.
Infrastructure.
Energy.
Education.
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