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/2016/11/30/us/politics/donald-trump-transition.html
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Sarah Palin for Veterans Affairs? A Wrestling Impresario for Small Business? | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| President-elect Donald J. Trump wants to keep New York’s crusading United States attorney on board, and is reportedly eyeing the professional wrestling impresario Linda McMahon for the Small Business Administration. And a new name has popped up to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs: Sarah Palin. | |
| The Department of Veterans Affairs’ massive network of hospitals and clinics has been under a microscope since scandalously long waiting lists and allegations of cover-ups burst into public. The management morass seemed so intractable that in 2014, President Obama pushed out a decorated former general, Eric Shinseki, and hired a former chief executive of Procter & Gamble, Robert A. McDonald, to sort it out. | |
| Now, according to news reports, Mr. Trump is thinking of taking Veterans Affairs in a new direction, handing its reins to former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. | |
| Given Mr. Trump’s passionate campaign pledges to the nation’s veterans, the response — if she is chosen — would be ... interesting. | |
| Spotted at Trump Tower on Wednesday afternoon: Linda McMahon, the former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, an outfit the president-elect has some experience with. | |
| “The meeting went great,” she told reporters. “It was really nice to be up, and I was honored to be asked to come in. Anytime I think the president-elect of the United States asks you to come in for a conversation, you’re happy to do that. We talked about business and entrepreneurs and creating jobs, and we talked about S.B.A.” | |
| Her connections to Mr. Trump go beyond their mutual love of bloated men in spandex suits. Her net worth, estimated at around $855 million, would put her in the same income brackets as the candidates tapped to be the secretaries of Commerce, Treasury and Education, as well as the deputy Commerce secretary. | |
| Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan who has built a reputation as a fierce prosecutor of public corruption cases, said on Wednesday that he intended to remain in office under President-elect Trump’s administration. | |
| Mr. Bharara, who was appointed in 2009 by Mr. Obama, disclosed his intention to stay on after emerging from a meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower. | |
| Mr. Bharara told reporters that Mr. Trump had asked to meet with him to discuss “whether or not I’d be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favor for the last seven years.” | |
| “We had a good meeting,” Mr. Bharara continued. “I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on.” | |
| Mr. Bharara said that he had already talked to Senator Jeff Sessions, the Republican of Alabama who is Mr. Trump’s choice to be attorney general. “He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing,” Mr. Bharara said. | |
| Appearing on the business cable channel CNBC, Steven Mnuchin, Mr. Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, made a series of promises and pledges sure to be remembered in the years to come: | |
| ■ Mr. Trump’s tax cuts will be huge, with the corporate tax rate dropping to 15 percent from 35 percent. Mr. Mnuchin said: | ■ Mr. Trump’s tax cuts will be huge, with the corporate tax rate dropping to 15 percent from 35 percent. Mr. Mnuchin said: |
| ■ But it will provide no net benefit to the rich. | ■ But it will provide no net benefit to the rich. |
| Details? Not many, but he did hint that he will push to cap the mortgage deduction for mega-mansions and second homes. | Details? Not many, but he did hint that he will push to cap the mortgage deduction for mega-mansions and second homes. |
| ■ The Trump administration expects sustained economic growth of 3 percent to 4 percent a year. “That is absolutely critical for the country,” Mr. Mnuchin said. | ■ The Trump administration expects sustained economic growth of 3 percent to 4 percent a year. “That is absolutely critical for the country,” Mr. Mnuchin said. |
| Critical, perhaps, but difficult, considering the United States has not seen consistent growth like that since the 1990s. | Critical, perhaps, but difficult, considering the United States has not seen consistent growth like that since the 1990s. |
| ■ The Trump administration will label China a currency manipulator “if we determine” that’s warranted. | ■ The Trump administration will label China a currency manipulator “if we determine” that’s warranted. |
| ■ The top regulatory priority will be eliminating “parts” of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul that discourage lending, but the administration will not push for a full repeal. Mr. Mnuchin: | ■ The top regulatory priority will be eliminating “parts” of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul that discourage lending, but the administration will not push for a full repeal. Mr. Mnuchin: |
| The president-elect is full of surprises, but absent a big one, Wednesday morning’s announcements may be all we get for the rest of the week. | The president-elect is full of surprises, but absent a big one, Wednesday morning’s announcements may be all we get for the rest of the week. |
| In addition to Mr. Mnuchin, there were Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor, for commerce secretary, and Todd Ricketts, part of the Ameritrade fortune and a part owner of the Chicago Cubs, for deputy commerce secretary. | |
| The Trump cabinet, assuming it is confirmed, will be worth billions of dollars (add Mr. Trump’s previously announced education secretary pick, Betsy DeVos of the Amway fortune). But the team is not shying away from its Wall Street and moneyed roots. | |
| Mr. Mnuchin said on CNBC: | Mr. Mnuchin said on CNBC: |
| With Republicans expected to hold 52 seats in the Senate, blocking confirmation would be hard, but Democrats signaled that both men would face tough questioning. | With Republicans expected to hold 52 seats in the Senate, blocking confirmation would be hard, but Democrats signaled that both men would face tough questioning. |
| Mr. Mnuchin’s time atop a Los Angeles bank known for its foreclosures will definitely come up, as suggested by a joint comment released Wednesday by Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. | |
| Among the president-elect himself, his commerce secretary pick, his deputy commerce pick, his education secretary choice and his prospective Treasury secretary, much of Mr. Trump’s team ranges from multimillionaires to billionaires. And that doesn’t include Ms. McMahon, no slouch on the money front. | |
| So is the incoming administration truly populist? | So is the incoming administration truly populist? |
| Anthony Scaramucci, the financier and Trump transition official, had some thoughts Wednesday: | Anthony Scaramucci, the financier and Trump transition official, had some thoughts Wednesday: |
| Are millionaires and billionaires really “draining the swamp”? | Are millionaires and billionaires really “draining the swamp”? |
| Mary Fallin, Oklahoma’s conservative Republican governor, is under consideration for interior secretary. Ms. Fallin had been floated as a potential vice-presidential nominee shortly before the Republican National Convention over the summer. Her aide, Steve Mullins, is also being mentioned for a top staff post if she gets the job. | |
| With Alabama and New Mexico certifying their votes, an update is in order. Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead over Mr. Trump climbed overnight to 2,370,700 — or 1.8 percentage points. Eleven states and the District of Columbia now record a higher percentage of votes for Mrs. Clinton than President Obama received in 2012. | With Alabama and New Mexico certifying their votes, an update is in order. Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead over Mr. Trump climbed overnight to 2,370,700 — or 1.8 percentage points. Eleven states and the District of Columbia now record a higher percentage of votes for Mrs. Clinton than President Obama received in 2012. |
| Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he would leave his “great business in total” before moving into the Oval Office, promising further details next month about his efforts to avoid conflicts of interest as he becomes the nation’s 45th president. | Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he would leave his “great business in total” before moving into the Oval Office, promising further details next month about his efforts to avoid conflicts of interest as he becomes the nation’s 45th president. |
| It is unclear whether the steps Mr. Trump is prepared to take would be enough to satisfy ethics experts who say that putting his children in charge of the business would not be enough to ensure that his official decisions are independent of his personal financial ones. His daughter Ivanka has attended a number of meetings with heads of state since the election, and she would be one of the main officers of the Trump Organization. | It is unclear whether the steps Mr. Trump is prepared to take would be enough to satisfy ethics experts who say that putting his children in charge of the business would not be enough to ensure that his official decisions are independent of his personal financial ones. His daughter Ivanka has attended a number of meetings with heads of state since the election, and she would be one of the main officers of the Trump Organization. |
| In an interview with The New York Times last week, Mr. Trump said that presidents “can’t have a conflict of interest” and that it would be extremely difficult to sell his businesses because they are real estate holdings. | In an interview with The New York Times last week, Mr. Trump said that presidents “can’t have a conflict of interest” and that it would be extremely difficult to sell his businesses because they are real estate holdings. |
| Mr. Trump, in his now-familiar early-morning Twitter presence, let the world know his thoughts about the recent Ohio State University attack, in which a man rammed a car into pedestrians on a busy campus sidewalk and then slashed passers-by with a butcher knife: | |
| It is, naturally, more complicated than that. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, did call the attacker, identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali-born Ohio State student, a “soldier” of the terrorist group. But technically, it was his mother who was admitted to the United States as a refugee in 2014. | It is, naturally, more complicated than that. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, did call the attacker, identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali-born Ohio State student, a “soldier” of the terrorist group. But technically, it was his mother who was admitted to the United States as a refugee in 2014. |
| And law enforcement officers are still working to determine if the assailant acted alone and if the assault was an act of terrorism. | And law enforcement officers are still working to determine if the assailant acted alone and if the assault was an act of terrorism. |
| Donald Trump Jr. took a quick trip to Turkey, according to reports in newspapers there, for a deer-hunting excursion near Antalya, a resort city know for its yacht-filled Old Harbor, beaches and luxury hotels. | |
| The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that the visit this week was at the invitation of a Turkish businessman, who was not identified. Turkish authorities provided special guards, the newspaper reported, in addition to security that Mr. Trump’s oldest son had with him. | The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that the visit this week was at the invitation of a Turkish businessman, who was not identified. Turkish authorities provided special guards, the newspaper reported, in addition to security that Mr. Trump’s oldest son had with him. |
| One Turkish news account said that Donald Trump Jr. “pursued and shot two wild deer.” | One Turkish news account said that Donald Trump Jr. “pursued and shot two wild deer.” |
| Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democratic of California, was re-elected House Democratic leader for an eighth term on Wednesday, 134-to-63. But make no mistake, those votes for her challenger, Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, are significant. | |
| Ms. Pelosi has come under fire from many in her party every election year since the Democrats lost control of the House in 2010, and the victory of Mr. Trump in Rust Belt states has led many to clamor for a leadership that is younger and perhaps not from the coasts. | |
| Mr. Ryan, a burley former high school football player from Youngstown, appealed to Democrats eager to shed the party’s whiff of coastal elitism and get back to the business of representing the working class. | Mr. Ryan, a burley former high school football player from Youngstown, appealed to Democrats eager to shed the party’s whiff of coastal elitism and get back to the business of representing the working class. |
| Typical of the unrest was the sentiment expressed by Representative Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, elected to the House in 2012: | |