Amid Signs of Transition Trouble, Trump Huddles With Pence
A person familiar with the transition efforts said different factions in Trump's team "are fighting for power"
By Julie Pace and Ken Thomas ••
Hidden from the public in his Manhattan high-rise, Donald Trump huddled most of Tuesday with Vice President-elect Mike Pence as he tried to fill out key posts in his Cabinet. But the transition team appeared to be straining under the enormous challenge of setting up a new administration.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a respected Republican voice on national security issues, announced he was quitting the transition effort. And an apparent clerical oversight effectively halted the Trump team's ability to coordinate with President Barack Obama's White House.
With Trump out of sight for several days, his allies engaged in an unusual round of public speculation about his potential appointments — including their own futures — as the president-elect and his aides weighed the nation's top national security posts.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani seemed to be angling for secretary of state. But Trump's transition team was reviewing Giuliani's paid consulting work for foreign governments, which could delay a nomination or bump Giuliani to a different position, according to a person briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Giuliani founded his own firm, Giuliani Partners, in 2001, and helped businesses on behalf of foreign governments, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. He also advised TransCanada, which sought to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and helped the maker of the painkiller drug OxyContin settle a dispute with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
A Trump official said John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, remained in contention for secretary of state. Bolton has years of foreign policy experience, but he has raised eyebrows with some of his hawkish stances, including a 2015 New York Times op-ed in which he advocated bombing Iran to halt the country's nuclear program.
Businessman Carl Icahn disclosed on Twitter, based on conversations with the president-elect, that Trump was considering Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, and Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor, to lead the Treasury and Commerce departments.
Pence, now running the transition team, ignored questions from reporters as he walked through the lobby of Trump Tower, a thick binder tucked under his arm. He took over from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who spent months running transition operations before his demotion last week.
The switch has slowed Trump's ability to coordinate with the White House. Pence delivered a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate interactions between his team and Obama administration officials, a White House spokesperson confirmed Tuesday night. But there is more paperwork required from Trump's team before the White House can begin briefing incoming staff.
In order to begin that process, the spokesperson said, the White House will need a complete list of names of those on the transition team.
A person familiar with the transition efforts said different factions in Trump's team "are fighting for power."
Indeed, Trump effectively created two power centers in his White House even before taking office. He named Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and flame-throwing media mogul Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, but called them "equal partners." Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is also deeply involved in the transition, creating another layer of uncertainty about who is making decisions.
"That organization right now is not designed to work," according to the person close to the efforts, who like others involved in the transition, insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the internal process.
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President Barack Obama shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump following a meeting in the Oval Office Nov. 10, 2016, in Washington, DC.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, left, shows President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania the view of the inaugural stand that is being built and Pennsylvania Avenue from the Speaker's Balcony on Capitol Hill in Washington, on, Nov. 10, 2016.
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Students at the University of Washington, join thousands of protesters marching down 2nd Avenue on Nov. 9, 2016, in Seattle, Washington. Demostrations in multiple cities around the country were held the day following Donald Trump's upset win in last night's U.S. presidential election.
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Guests react to election results as they appear on a large television monitor during Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's election night rally in the Jacob Javits Center glass enclosed lobby in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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Republican president-elect Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to the crowd during his acceptance speech at his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in the early morning hours of Nov. 9, 2016, in New York City. Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States.
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Supporters of Donald Trump cheer during the election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 8, 2016, in New York City.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, accompanied by her husband former President Bill Clinton, pauses as she concedes the presidential election at the New Yorker Hotel on Nov. 9, 2016, in New York City. Republican candidate Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election in the early hours of the morning in a widely unforeseen upset.
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Guests watch a television broadcast of U.S. election in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016. The United States headed for the polls to vote for their new president on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
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A Hillary Clinton supporter clashes with a Donald Trump supporter outside the White House early Nov. 9, 2016, in Washington, DC.
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Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump react as they watch the election results during Trump's election night rally, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in New York.
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President-elect Donald Trump smiles as he arrives to speak at an election night rally, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York.
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A supporter of Donald Trump reacts to updates from the election returns outside Trump Tower in New York City after midnight on election day Nov. 9, 2016.
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Supporters of Donald Trump watch early results during the election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 8, 2016, in New York City.
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Republican presidential elect Donald Trump meets supporters during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York on Nov. 9, 2016.
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Sri Vasamsetti, 22, of Seattle and a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, watches televised coverage of the U.S. presidential election at the Comet Tavern in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington on Nov. 8, 2016.
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Campaign chairman John Podesta speaks on stage at Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's election night event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center November 9, 2016 in New York City.
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Supporters of Hillary Clinton react during election night at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on Nov. 8, 2016.
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NEWPORT BEACH, CA - NOVEMBER 8: Nellie Gillogly, center, of Santa Ana, joins Republicans erupting in celebration as a newscaster announces Donald Trump wins Florida while watching election night results at the OCGOP election party at China Palace in Newport Beach, Calif., on Nov. 8, 2016.
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Marta Lunez prays on her knees as election results come in at Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's election night event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Nov. 9, 2016, in New York City.
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A group of women react as voting results come in at Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's election night event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Nov. 8, 2016, in New York City.
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A supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reacts during election night at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on Nov. 8, 2016.
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A Hillary Clinton supporter reacts after she was projected to win the state of California in Times Square on November 8, 2016 in New York City.
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Three women watch voting results at Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's election night event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center November 8, 2016 in New York City.
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People cheer at Donald Trump's election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 8, 2016, in New York City.
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Jane Chapa poses for a selfie at Golden Hall in San Diego, CA on Nov. 8, 2016.
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People make their way into Fire Station 10 to vote in the 2016 election on Nov. 8, 2016, in Arlington, Virginia. Americans across the nation are picking their choice for the next president of the United States.
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A guest watches the results come in at a U.S. election night party at the United States Embassy in the early morning hours on Nov. 9, 2016, in London, England.
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Guy Edwards carries his ballot and skateboard, designed with the theme of a woman and the San Onofre nuclear power plant, a popular surfing area, at the Los Angeles Lifeguard station at Venice Beach on Nov. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles, United States.
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Fatemeh Hussain puts her ballot in the scanner to be tabulated after voting at Oakman Elementary School during the US presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016, in Dearborn, Michigan.
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Downtown resident Ruth Bowles casts her ballot at the Weingart Center for the Homeless on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 8, 2016.
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Voters cast ballots at Su Nueva Lavaderia Laundromat in the 2016 presidential elections in Chicago, Illinois, on Nov. 8, 2016.
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With a large American flag on the wall, people cast their ballot in the presidential election at Freedom Academy elementary school on Nov. 8, 2016, in Provo, Utah. Americans across the nation are picking their choice for the next president of the United States.
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ALEXANDRIA, VA - NOVEMBER 08: Local resident Kendra Isaacson (L) waits in-line with her 11-month-old daughter Katie Isaacson for casting her ballot outside a polling place on Election Day November 8, 2016 in Alexandria, Virginia. Americans across the nation are picking their choice for the next president of the United States. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Voters cast their ballots at a polling station inside of a fire station in Arlington, Virginia.
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A cake made with with Donald Trump's face was wheeled out on Nov. 8, 2016.
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People wait in line to vote at a poll station in Arlington, Virginia, on Nov. 8, 2016.
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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton cookies are on sale at the Oakmont Bakery in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. As of election day morning, Trump leads the cookie-purchase tally with 63% of the purchases.
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NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 08: Lines of voters wrap around the outside of PS198M The Straus School as they wait to cast their ballots on November 8, 2016 in New York City, New York. Americans across the nation are picking their choice for the next president of the United States. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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People enter a polling site at Public School 261 in New York City.
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The sun rises near the White House on Nov. 8, 2016, in Washington, D.C.
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Voters wait for polls to open on Nov. 8, 2016, at the Midwest Genealogy Center Library in Independence, Missouri.
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Election workers wait for voters to arrive at the Estabrook Recreation Center polling location in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Minerva Trupin places an I Voted sticker on the jacket of Democratic vice presidential candidate US Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., after he voted in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.
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A line of voters stretches around the block while waiting to cast their ballots at a polling site in New York as One World Trade Center stands at left in the background.
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People wait at a poll station where Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to vote in Chappaqua on Nov. 8, 2016.
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Bill Clinton, left, and Hillary Clinton vote at Douglas G. Griffin School in Chappaqua, New York.
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The stage is set for Donald Trumps' election night party at Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan in New York City.
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Voters cast their ballots at the P.S. 9 Teunis G Bergen polling location in Brooklyn, New York.
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A line forms outside a voting precinct before it opens in Durham, North Carolina.
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A voter casts his ballot in a polling place in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Voters cast their ballots at Robert Simon Middle school in New York City.
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A man checks in at the Brooklyn Museum polling station in New York.
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Donald Trump and his wife Melania fill out their ballots at a polling station in a New York City school.
Microphones stand on stage where Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will give her election night address on November 8, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City. Both Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump are scheduled to hold election night events in Manhattan.
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The tally board in Dixville Notch, N.H., where the nation's first voters cast their ballots on Election Day, shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton beating Republican Donald Trump 4-2 Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is joined by his wife Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump after they vote on Election Day at PS 59 in New York City.
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Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on Oct. 27, 2016, in Springfield, Ohio.
Former GOP national security official Eliot Cohen blasted Trump's team on Twitter, calling them "angry, arrogant." Cohen opposed Trump during the campaign, but in recent days, he said those who feel duty-bound to work in a Trump administration should do so. But he said Tuesday that after an exchange with Trump's team, he had "changed my recommendation."
With Trump's team divided, emboldened Republicans on Capitol Hill moved forward with a united front. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a lukewarm Trump supporter during the campaign, unanimously won his GOP colleagues' votes for another term at the helm of the House. He told fellow Republicans he had Trump's support, and heralded "the dawn of a new, unified Republican government."
Democrats, reeling from sweeping defeats in the election, focused their ire on Bannon, a man celebrated by the white nationalist movement.
"If Trump is serious about seeking unity, the first thing he should do is rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said. "As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the Oval Office, it would be impossible to take Trump's efforts to heal the nation seriously."
Trump's team has defended Bannon and tried to put its focus on filling the top national security jobs. Trump's selections will be the first signals to anxious international allies about the direction he plans to take U.S. foreign policy.
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a loyal Trump ally and immigration hard-liner, is said to be a contender for defense secretary.
Trump also is considering Richard Grenell as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, which would bring some experience and diversity to his nascent administration. Grenell, who served as U.S. spokesman at the U.N. under President George W. Bush, would be the first openly gay person to fill a Cabinet-level foreign policy post.
