TRUMP TRANSITION WATCH: The Greatest Reality Show on Earth
From the New York Times: “President-elect Donald J. Trump has turned the vital, but normally inscrutable, process of forming a government into a Trump-branded, made-for-television spectacle, parading his finalists for top administration positions this weekend before reporters and the world.”
Mitt Romney is under “active and serious consideration” for the secretary of state post, VP-elect Mike Pence said Sunday.
The Wall Street Journal: “President-elect Donald Trump appears likely to choose between investment banker Steven Mnuchin and Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling to steer the Treasury Department, though advisers say he is still drawn to the idea of appointing J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon.”
From NBC’s Alex Jaffe: “Melania Trump and son Barron are expected to move to the White House and in Washington, D.C. "right after" Barron's school year is completed, president-elect Donald Trump told NBC News. Yesterday, the New York Post reported that there was uncertainty surrounding the prospect of Mrs. Trump and her son leaving New York City. Trump himself prompted doubt about the family's plans to fully relocate with his continued preference to return home to Trump Tower whenever possible, but confirmed to NBC News on Sunday that he intends to live in the White House.”
What’s going on with Chris Christie in Trumpworld? The Washington Post reports on his reappearance this weekend.
Newspapers in India reported that Trump conducted a “business meeting” with Indian real estate executives last week.
The Washington Post notes how Trump himself has hardly appeared publicly during the transition process.
POLITICO profiles Rebekah Mercer’s role in the transition: “[T]hree people close to the Trump transition say Mercer also has lobbied forcefully against prospective cabinet secretaries she deems too liberal, while pushing for others she sees as true conservatives, including former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton for Secretary of State. They say she was a leading advocate inside Trump’s inner circle for the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General and the appointment of Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn as National Security Adviser.”
TRUMP AGENDA: Never get involved in a trade war in Asia
NBCNews.com looks at how a Trump trade war with China could hurt both countries – and how the United States could lose it.
The conflict-of-interest nexus is setting off a lot of alarm bells. “At least 111 Trump companies have done business in 18 countries and territories across South America, Asia and the Middle East, a Washington Post analysis of Trump financial filings shows.”
The Wall Street Journal details the battle in Trump’s camp between “supply-siders versus the zero-sum crowd.”
DEM WATCH: The Bernie Mafia
Here’s Barack Obama, on when he will weigh in on Trump’s administration: “As an American citizen who cares deeply about our country, if there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle but go to core questions about our values and our ideals, and if I think that it's necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, then I'll examine it when it comes.”
From the AP: “The jarring gap between Obama's public face and the prevailing Democratic sentiment about Donald Trump's election was an unexpected element to Obama's final presidential trip, which included visits to Greece, Germany and Peru. Time after time, Obama opted for optimism over any sense of foreboding, and diplomatic dodges over criticism. The man whose legacy risks being devastated by Trump's election appeared to be the one Democrat who wouldn't publicly fret about its impact.”
Obama is trying to fortify the Iran nuclear deal in his final days in office, reports the Wall Street Journal.
NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald reports on the “Bernie Mafia” – and how Sanders supporters are trying to assert themselves as the Democratic Party reels.
POLITICO: “In the days since Hillary Clinton’s stunning electoral defeat to Donald Trump, the vacuum she left atop the Democratic Party hasn’t gone unfilled. Elizabeth Warren has moved aggressively to occupy the space, a timely reminder to the party and its most ambitious members that all roads to 2020 — not to mention 2018 — go through her.”