The Note: White House in Waiting Takes Shape

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November 14, 2016

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White House in Waiting Takes Shape

Trump Names Priebus as Chief of Staff, Bannon as Senior Adviser

Donald Trump named Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as chief of staff to his new administration and former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor to the president, ABC's JOHN SANTUCCI and ALEX MALLIN report. Priebus has fostered close relationships over time with lawmakers from all factions of the party, while remaining steadfastly loyal to Trump once it became clear he had secured the party's nomination. Bannon on the other hand is a firebrand of the far right, whose website has in the past targeted many GOP leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, deriding them as "establishment" figures. A press release announcing the appointments said both will work "as equal partners to transform the federal government" and to assist Vice President-elect Mike Pence in his new role as transition chairman. http://abcn.ws/2f6sSmD

What Trump is Saying

"I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country," Trump said in a statement. "Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again."

Priebus Defends Steve Bannon as a 'Very, Very Smart Person'

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, today defended incoming White House strategist Steve Bannon against accusations that he sympathizes with white supremacists by asking the public to give him a chance, saying "this is a very, very smart person." "I don't know where they're coming from," he told "Good Morning America" of the critics. "That's not the Steve Bannon that I know." The strongest criticism of Trump's selection of Bannon, the executive chairman of the "alt-right"-favored website Breitbart.com, has come from retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States. More from ABC's MICHAEL HAYDEN: http://abcn.ws/2fPn14T

Analysis - ABC's Rick Klein

Donald Trump said plenty about what he would do if elected president – which is not the same as saying his policy vision was a coherent or consistent one. So far, he's been softening some of his harder policy edges in ways that should not be at all surprising. Portions of the border "wall" will actually be fencing, the president-elect said, and the vast majority of undocumented immigrants won't have to worry about being deported, at least not immediately. He doesn't plan to push for gay marriage to be reversed by the Supreme Court, but does see a future where abortion rights are protected (or not) state by state. Part of what's interesting here is that while Trump cast himself as strong and unwavering, he will be coming in to office as deal-maker by nature with few items he would not be willing to negotiate. He could offend, or make nice, with powerful Washington interests – the NRA, the Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Tax Reform – in ways few incoming presidents feel flexible to play it.