This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/reince-priebus-chief-of-staff-donald-trump.html

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Donald Trump Picks Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff Donald Trump Picks Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff
(about 2 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Sunday chose Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and a loyal campaign adviser, to be his White House chief of staff, turning to a Washington insider whose friendship with the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, could help secure early legislative victories.WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Sunday chose Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and a loyal campaign adviser, to be his White House chief of staff, turning to a Washington insider whose friendship with the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, could help secure early legislative victories.
In selecting Mr. Priebus, the president-elect passed over Stephen K. Bannon, the right-wing media mogul who oversaw his presidential campaign. If Mr. Trump had appointed Mr. Bannon, a fierce critic of the Republican establishment, it would have signaled a continued disdain for a party that Mr. Trump fought throughout his campaign. In selecting Mr. Priebus, Mr. Trump passed over Stephen K. Bannon, the right-wing media provocateur. But he named Mr. Bannon his senior counselor and chief West Wing strategist, signaling an embrace of the fringe ideology long advanced by Mr. Bannon and a continuing disdain for his party’s establishment.
Mr. Trump’s choice is certain to anger some of his most conservative supporters, many of whom expect him to battle the Washington establishment over issues like taxes, immigration, trade, health care and the environment. They view Mr. Priebus as a deal maker who will be too eager to push the new president toward compromise. The dual appointments — with Mr. Bannon given top billing in the official announcement — instantly created rival centers of power in the Trump White House.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, the transition team said Mr. Bannon would serve as the chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House. It emphasized that the two men would work “as equal partners to transform the federal government.” Mr. Bannon’s selection demonstrated the power in Mr. Trump’s rise of grass-roots activists who have long traded in the conspiracy theories and sometimes racist rhetoric of Breitbart News, the website that Mr. Bannon ran for much of the last decade.
Mr. Bannon — the longtime chairman of Breitbart News, a site known for its nationalist, racially charged, conspiracy-laden coverage — is likely to serve as a conduit to the populist right and conservative media outlets. The site has accused President Obama of “importing more hating Muslims”; compared Planned Parenthood’s work to the Holocaust; called Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator, a “renegade Jew”; and advised female victims of online harassment to “just log off” and stop “screwing up the internet for men,” illustrating that point with a picture of a crying child.
Breitbart News has accused President Obama of “importing more hating Muslims”; compared Planned Parenthood’s work to the Holocaust; called Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator, a “renegade Jew”; and advised female victims of online harassment to “just log off” and stop “screwing up the internet for men,” illustrating that point with a picture of a crying child. The grass-roots activists may be angered by the selection of Mr. Priebus as chief of staff, viewing him as a deal maker who will be too eager to push the new president toward compromise on issues like taxes, immigration, trade, health care and the environment.
The transition team appeared eager to ease concerns among Mr. Trump’s most fervent supporters over the selection of Mr. Priebus. To that end, the statement mentioned Mr. Bannon first. In a statement Sunday afternoon, the transition team emphasized that the two men would work “as equal partners to transform the federal government.”
That simultaneous announcement is consistent with Mr. Trump’s management style in his businesses and in his campaign: creating rival power structures beneath him and encouraging them to battle it out.
It is also a reflection of who has the ear of the president-elect: his children, and especially Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. Both of them had argued that the chief of staff job should not be held by someone too controversial, according to several people familiar with the decision-making inside the transition effort.
Mr. Kushner is likely to wield great influence over the new president regardless of whether he holds a formal title. Mr. Kushner, who has no experience in politics or government, often gets the final word in advising Mr. Trump.
But while Mr. Trump apparently feels comfortable with Mr. Priebus, the people with knowledge of his weekend decision said that Mr. Bannon was still the adviser who was better able to talk forcefully to the president-elect during difficult moments.
The transition team appeared eager to appease concerns among Mr. Trump’s most fervent supporters that choosing Mr. Priebus meant that the president-elect had already caved to the Washington “swamp” he had promised to drain. The team also wanted to mollify Mr. Bannon, and to that end, the official statement mentioned Mr. Bannon first.
“We had a very successful partnership on the campaign, one that led to victory,” Mr. Bannon said in the statement. “We will have that same partnership in working to help President-elect Trump achieve his agenda.”“We had a very successful partnership on the campaign, one that led to victory,” Mr. Bannon said in the statement. “We will have that same partnership in working to help President-elect Trump achieve his agenda.”
Mr. Priebus said he looked forward to working with Mr. Bannon and Mr. Trump “to create an economy that works for everyone, secure our borders, repeal and replace Obamacare and destroy radical Islamic terrorism.”Mr. Priebus said he looked forward to working with Mr. Bannon and Mr. Trump “to create an economy that works for everyone, secure our borders, repeal and replace Obamacare and destroy radical Islamic terrorism.”
The selection of Mr. Priebus to run the White House staff is partly a reflection of concern among Mr. Trump’s children, especially Ivanka Trump, as well as her husband, Jared Kushner, that the job should not be held by someone too controversial, according to several people familiar with the internal decision making.
But while Mr. Trump apparently feels comfortable with Mr. Priebus, the people with knowledge of the decision said that Mr. Bannon was better able to talk forcefully to the president-elect during difficult moments.
Mr. Priebus is expected to have multiple deputies, including Katie Walsh, the chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, who is close to Mr. Priebus and helped ensure a tight working relationship between the party’s operational infrastructure and Mr. Trump’s campaign.Mr. Priebus is expected to have multiple deputies, including Katie Walsh, the chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, who is close to Mr. Priebus and helped ensure a tight working relationship between the party’s operational infrastructure and Mr. Trump’s campaign.
Other advisers in Mr. Trump’s inner circle will also have his ear, including Mr. Kushner, who is likely to wield great influence over the new president regardless of whether he holds a formal title. Mr. Kushner, who has no experience in politics or government, is often the last person Mr. Trump turns to for counsel. A onetime Goldman Sachs banker, Mr. Bannon has transformed himself into a media figure who favors a scorched-earth style of politics and is deeply suspicious of the government establishment and the corporate elite. During the campaign, he pushed Mr. Trump to embrace a fierce populism that helped fuel his victory.
A onetime Goldman Sachs banker, Mr. Bannon has transformed himself into a media figure who favors a scorched-earth style of politics and views the corporate elite and the government establishment with disdain. Mr. Trump’s decision last summer to put Mr. Bannon in charge of his campaign was part of an effort to reset a candidacy that had suffered from controversies surrounding high-level campaign officials.
Breitbart News regularly traffics in racially charged accusations about Mr. Obama, provocative comparisons between abortion providers and Holocaust killers, and contempt for feminism. Many of its articles tap into a fierce populism not unlike the voter sentiment that helped fuel Mr. Trump’s victory. But Mr. Bannon is viewed with alarm by many, including some Republicans. Anna Navarro, a longtime Republican strategist who opposed Mr. Trump during the campaign, said on Twitter on Sunday: “Oh, hell! White supremacist, anti gay, anti Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude named Senior Strategist. After vomiting, be afraid, America.”
Mr. Bannon also brings to the post a bumpy background that includes misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and allegations that he threatened his then-wife with retribution if she testified in the criminal case, according to a police report and court records obtained by The New York Times.
The charges date back two decades to the end of a troubled marriage in Santa Monica, Calif., to Mary Louise Piccard, who claimed that he had attacked her at their home.
He was charged in February 1996 with domestic violence, battery and attempting to dissuade a victim from reporting a crime, but the case was dropped when Ms. Piccard did not show up in court. In court records, Ms. Piccard later claimed that Mr. Bannon had instructed her to leave town to avoid testifying.
Despite his image as a bomb-thrower, Mr. Bannon is also savvy at cutting deals to achieve his goals.Despite his image as a bomb-thrower, Mr. Bannon is also savvy at cutting deals to achieve his goals.
But as chief of staff, Mr. Priebus will be the one who has several hundred White House staff members reporting to him. He will be the primary gatekeeper for Mr. Trump and the person most responsible for steering the president’s agenda through Congress. That role will be especially critical for Mr. Trump, who has never served in government and has few connections to important political figures.But as chief of staff, Mr. Priebus will be the one who has several hundred White House staff members reporting to him. He will be the primary gatekeeper for Mr. Trump and the person most responsible for steering the president’s agenda through Congress. That role will be especially critical for Mr. Trump, who has never served in government and has few connections to important political figures.
The selection of Mr. Priebus comes at the end of a roller-coaster year for the Republican Party, which saw Mr. Trump rewrite many of its policy orthodoxies, clash with its leaders in Congress and denigrate the Bush political dynasty.The selection of Mr. Priebus comes at the end of a roller-coaster year for the Republican Party, which saw Mr. Trump rewrite many of its policy orthodoxies, clash with its leaders in Congress and denigrate the Bush political dynasty.
As Mr. Trump denounced the Republican primary process as rigged and, on occasion, threatened to quit the party and run on his own, Mr. Priebus remained neutral. And when Mr. Trump secured the nomination, Mr. Priebus stood by his side.As Mr. Trump denounced the Republican primary process as rigged and, on occasion, threatened to quit the party and run on his own, Mr. Priebus remained neutral. And when Mr. Trump secured the nomination, Mr. Priebus stood by his side.
Mr. Priebus worked with Mr. Trump on the nuts and bolts of presidential politics, trying to smooth his rough edges and staying in close contact as a bare-bones campaign prepared to go up against the Clinton machine.Mr. Priebus worked with Mr. Trump on the nuts and bolts of presidential politics, trying to smooth his rough edges and staying in close contact as a bare-bones campaign prepared to go up against the Clinton machine.
On the surface, the two men could hardly be more different. While Mr. Trump, 70, is known for his brashness and at times his viciousness, the much younger Mr. Priebus, 44, is regarded for his low profile and humility.On the surface, the two men could hardly be more different. While Mr. Trump, 70, is known for his brashness and at times his viciousness, the much younger Mr. Priebus, 44, is regarded for his low profile and humility.
A Wisconsin native and lawyer by training, Mr. Priebus has never held elected office. But he served as state treasurer and worked his way up through the Wisconsin Republican Party to become chairman, putting him on the Republican National Committee, where he eventually became general counsel to the chairman at the time, Michael Steele.A Wisconsin native and lawyer by training, Mr. Priebus has never held elected office. But he served as state treasurer and worked his way up through the Wisconsin Republican Party to become chairman, putting him on the Republican National Committee, where he eventually became general counsel to the chairman at the time, Michael Steele.
Now the longest-serving Republican National Committee chairman, Mr. Priebus was elected to the job in 2011, unseating Mr. Steele on the promise of modernizing the party and refilling its coffers. With his focus on fund-raising and fiscal issues, Mr. Priebus let Republican leaders in Congress be the voices of the party during the early part of his tenure. His profile rose as the 2016 election got into gear.Now the longest-serving Republican National Committee chairman, Mr. Priebus was elected to the job in 2011, unseating Mr. Steele on the promise of modernizing the party and refilling its coffers. With his focus on fund-raising and fiscal issues, Mr. Priebus let Republican leaders in Congress be the voices of the party during the early part of his tenure. His profile rose as the 2016 election got into gear.
At times, Mr. Priebus, whose first name rhymes with “pints,” struggled to defend Mr. Trump’s antics, but he showed his loyalty by supplementing the campaign’s resources and by urging Republicans to fall in line behind the candidate in spite of their reservations.At times, Mr. Priebus, whose first name rhymes with “pints,” struggled to defend Mr. Trump’s antics, but he showed his loyalty by supplementing the campaign’s resources and by urging Republicans to fall in line behind the candidate in spite of their reservations.
When Mr. Trump emerged onstage to give his victory speech early Wednesday, Mr. Trump made his appreciation clear, dismissing rumors of tension with Mr. Priebus and singing his praises.When Mr. Trump emerged onstage to give his victory speech early Wednesday, Mr. Trump made his appreciation clear, dismissing rumors of tension with Mr. Priebus and singing his praises.
“I never had a bad second with him,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s an unbelievable star.”“I never had a bad second with him,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s an unbelievable star.”