The Note: White House in Waiting Takes Shape
— -- NOTABLES
--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.
SPEED READ with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
TRUMP TELLS PROTESTERS 'DON'T BE AFRAID', CALLS FOR HATE CRIMES TO STOP. President-elect Donald Trump urged Americans not to be afraid of his presidency Sunday as thousands of Americans continue to demonstrate against him and his victory, according to ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL. “I would tell them don’t be afraid, absolutely,” Trump said in an interview with CBS News’ "60 Minutes." “Don't be afraid. We are going to bring our country back. But certainly, don't be afraid,” he continued, wondering whether there would be a “double standard” against his supporters had Hillary Clinton won the election. "I think it's built up by the press, because, frankly, they'll take every single little incident that they can find in this country, which could've been there before," he added about concerns from some minority groups about his victory. "I think the fears, you know, while they may be there, some fabricated, some not, are totally unfounded," his son Donald Trump Jr. said in the interview. http://abcn.ws/2g4ZPEQ
TRUMP SAYS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS 'SETTLED' LAW. Trump said he’s “fine” with same-sex marriage as the law of the land, calling the issue "settled" by the Supreme Court. The comments – in Trump's first television interview since winning the presidency – sharply contrast with his party’s orthodoxy, his running mate’s longtime position and comments he made during the Republican primaries. “It’s law,” he said in an interview with CBS’ "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday. “It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.” “These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m – I’m fine with that,” he added. More from ABC’s BEN SIEGEL: http://abcn.ws/2g8BBIZ
ANALYSIS: PRIEBUS, BANNON APPOINTMENTS POINT TOWARD SPLIT APPROACH TO TRUMP PRESIDENCY. Donald Trump once famously declared that there are two Donald Trumps. If that carries through to his presidency, both will be represented at the highest levels of the Trump White House, notes ABC’s RICK KLEIN. Sunday’s unusual announcement of Steve Bannon as chief strategist and chief counselor, and Reince Priebus as chief of staff, suggests that the president-elect is crafting a split approach to governance. The inside game is set to be run by Priebus, whose savvy as a manager was cemented by the wide election gains by Republicans last week. The outside game appears likely to be the territory of Bannon, whose stewardship of the late-stage campaign found Trump the stride he carried to victory. Bannon brings a more confrontational nature along with solid credentials in right-wing media circles, stemming from his leadership at Breitbart News. http://abcn.ws/2g4i0dI
ELLISON TO ANNOUNCE 'REAL SOON' IF HE'LL RUN FOR DNC CHAIR. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a leading member of the Democratic Party's progressive wing, said yesterday that he’ll announce "real soon” whether he will run to head the party in the wake of its stunning 2016 election losses, according to ABC’s MARIAM KHAN. Ellison said on ABC News' "This Week" that the next chair of the Democratic National Committee needs to have “vision” and the ability to mobilize party members at the grassroots level. Democrats, Ellison said, "need to put the voters first, not the donors first." http://abcn.ws/2f5BHNn
REID BACKS ELLISON FOR DNC CHAIR, CITES NEED FOR 'NEW THINKING'. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has joined some other party leaders in throwing his support behind Ellison to become the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, saying the Minnesota congressman would bring "new thinking and a fresh start." "My friend Keith Ellison is a terrific leader and a strong progressive who knows how to get things done. Now is the time for new thinking and a fresh start at the DNC. Now is the time for Keith," Reid said in a statement issued by his communications director. More from ABC’s MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: http://abcn.ws/2g80pRJ
GIULIANI ADVISES TRUMP TO PUT HIS BUSINESSES IN BLIND TRUST. Rudy Giuliani, vice chair of Donald Trump's transition team, is advising the president-elect to put his businesses in a blind trust ahead of taking office "for the good of the country." "For the good of the country, and the fact you don't want a question coming up every time there's a decision made, he should basically take himself out of it, and just be a passive participant in the sense that he has no decision-making, no involvement," Giuliani said on ABC's "This Week." "And those decisions get made separate from him, which is the way it's done for most cabinet offices." Giuliani's remarks came as many observers note that Trump's business empire -- comprised of more than 500 companies around the globe, including more than 250 bearing his name -- make him potentially susceptible to significant conflicts of interest. More from ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL: http://abcn.ws/2fJACfw
TRUMP IS CONGRATULATED BY GOP LEADERS WHO REJECTED HIS CANDIDACY. Donald Trump, who spent the weekend in Trump Tower in New York City, has been taking phone calls from leading Republicans who had previously either withheld support or denounced the business mogul's run for the country's highest office, a top aide said. Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said that Trump has spoken with three former rivals of his for the GOP nomination -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. In addition, the president-elect said in a Sunday morning tweet storm that he also spoke to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee for president, as well as former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, ABC’s ALEXANDER MALLIN reports: http://abcn.ws/2fwjOIs
WHO’S TWEETING?
@BFischerMartin: On latest @MastersPodcast ... RNC’s Sean Spicer says Trump can drain the swamp with establishment help http://bloom.bg/2eQOCVO
@jimrutenberg: PEOTUS Trump told me in June he wouldn't take away WH press passes if prez-what anti-press promises will he fulfill?
@business: Steve Bannon will be Donald Trump's chief strategist. We profiled him last year http://bloom.bg/2eSXw1T
@washingtonpost: Who could stop nuclear war in the Trump era? These scientists. http://wapo.st/2fqAmEa via @Posteverything
@SusanPage: Digging out from disaster: The Democratic Party's future on @drshow at 11 AM with Thomas Frank @mollyesque @hilaryr; I'm guesthost.
