Trump likely to reward loyalty with top posts
US President-elect Donald Trump's early list of potential appointments to top positions appears to reward people who were loyal to him after a campaign in which many Republican Party leaders kept their distance.
The news came as demonstrators marched in cities across the United States on Wednesday to protest against the Republican's surprise presidential election win, blasting his campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and other groups.
Jeff Sessions, an Alabama senator who was one of Trump's most fervent supporters in the US Congress, is said to be under consideration for a prominent role, perhaps defense secretary, sources familiar with transition planning said on Wednesday.
Retired General Michael Flynn emerged as a possible pick for Trump's national security adviser, the sources said.
Flynn, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, played a prominent role during the campaign, often serving as an introductory speaker at campaign rallies and has provided private counsel on foreign affairs.
"He has a calming influence on Trump," said a source familiar with transition planning.
In addition, former House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and US Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee were also considered potential selections for secretary of state, the sources said. Corker chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Both Corker and Gingrich had been under discussion as potential vice presidential picks for Trump, a position that eventually went to Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
These same sources said Republican National Committee Reince Priebus, who has emerged as a trusted adviser to the New York businessman, was being talked about as a potential White House chief of staff.
A Priebus deputy, RNC senior strategist Sean Spicer, was a possibility for White House press secretary.
Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who helped bring about a more disciplined approach to the candidate, was seen as potential White House senior adviser.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who endorsed Trump after dropping out of the 2016 Republican presidential nomination fight, was a possible education secretary.
Richard Grenell, a former spokesman for the United States at the United Nations, was a potential US ambassador to the United Nations, as was New York Republican Representative Peter King.
Mike Rogers, a former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was in the mix for CIA director, the sources said.
Trump's win has also triggered global anxiety. World leaders reacted to Trump's victory with offers to work with him tinged with anxiety over how he would deal with a host of problems, from the Middle East to an assertive Russia.
Several authoritarian and right-wing leaders commended the billionaire businessman and reality TV star who against the odds won the leadership of the world's most powerful country.
The EU's top leaders on Wednesday invited US President-elect Donald Trump to a summit as soon as possible as they warned of uncertainty in relations and a need to respect democratic values.
"I do not believe that any country today can be great in isolation," European Council chief Donald Tusk told reporters in Brussels, referring to Trump's campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again".
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "Europe and the United States simply have no option but to cooperate as closely as possible."
Europe, already beset by financial and social crises and internal divisions, now faces existential questions about its own security. Trump has questioned the US-led Nato's key collective defense guarantee.
Chinese state media has also warned the US president-elect against isolationism and interventionism, calling instead for the United States to actively work with China to maintain the international status quo.
President-elect Donald Trump threatened to tear up trade deals and pursue a more unilateral foreign policy under his "America First" principle during a tempestuous election campaign.
In sub-continent, Pakistanis fear that Trump may accelerate what they see as a shift in American policy to favour arch-foe India in the long rivalry between nuclear-armed neighbours, analysts said on Wednesday.
To many Pakistanis, Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric and business ties to India are signs that his administration could shift further toward New Delhi.
In the volatile Middle East, uncertainty spreads across the region, with questions hanging over the war against the Islamic State group, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran's nuclear deal.
Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided" capital if elected, in a break with longstanding US policy. Trump's adviser on Israel, David Friedman, also said last month the candidate was "tremendously sceptical" about the prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
During the campaign Trump repeatedly pledged to "destroy" the jihadist Islamic State group, but presented no clear plan for how. How Trump moves forward with the anti-IS offensive will depend on how he intends to deal with traditional US allies in the region, in particular Sunni Arab Gulf states, and his approach to the war in Syria.
The Syria war's future is also at stake. Trump said earlier this year that fighting both IS and Assad simultaneously was "madness, and idiocy".
The leaders of America's neighbors, Canada and Mexico, quickly made clear their willingness to work with the new president despite unease.
Cuba on Wednesday announced a week of pre-scheduled nationwide military exercises to prepare for "enemy actions," the day after US elected Trump, who has threatened to unravel the US-Cuban detente, as president.
The Communist-ruled island did not directly link the exercises, which will include troop movements and explosions from Nov 16 to Nov 20, to Trump's victory.
During a bitter campaign that tugged at America's democratic fabric, the tycoon pledged to deport illegal immigrants, ban Muslims from the country and tear up free-trade deals.
Those campaign messages were embraced by a large section of America's white majority, grown increasingly disgruntled by the scope of social and economic change under Obama.
But it was passionately rejected by Clinton supporters.
In New York, thousands filled streets in midtown Manhattan as they made their way to Trump Tower, Trump's gilded home on Fifth Avenue. Hundreds of others gathered at a Manhattan park and shouted "Not my president."
In Los Angeles, protesters sat on the 110 and 101 highway interchange, blocking traffic on one of the city's main arteries as police in riot gear tried to clear them. Some 13 protesters were arrested, a local CBS affiliate reported.
An earlier rally and march in Los Angeles drew more than 5,000 people, many of them high school and college students, local media reported.
A demonstration of more than 6,000 people blocked traffic in Oakland, California, police said. Protesters threw objects at police in riot gear, burned trash in the middle of an intersection, set off fireworks and smashed store front windows.
In downtown Chicago, an estimated 1,800 people gathered outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower, chanting phrases like "No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA."
In Seattle, police responded to a shooting with multiple victims near the scene of anti-Trump protests. Police said it was unrelated to the demonstrations.
Hundreds also gathered in Philadelphia, Boston and Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday evening. In Austin, the Texas capital, about 400 people marched through the streets, police said.
Wednesday's demonstrations followed a night of protests in the San Francisco area and elsewhere in the country in response to Trump's victory against heavily favored Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Comments