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Donald Trump’s Washington Arrival Starts Clock on His Agenda
Trump plans to issue only a handful of orders after noon swearing-in ceremony and inaugural parade; had promised a host of first-day actions
By
MICHAEL C. BENDER and
CAROL E. LEE
Updated Jan. 19, 2017 9:40 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—When Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the U.S. on Friday, it will mark the climax of a decadelong political uprising in a nation still hurting from the 2008 recession and frustrated by a gridlocked government.
The New York businessman, the first president without any previous experience in elected office or the military, says he is eager to demonstrate the changes he has promised to deliver, which center on creating jobs, increasing military spending, cutting taxes and taking new approaches to some of America’s most intractable foreign-policy problems.
As his nominees for cabinet and other positions face Senate hearings this week, with only a few expected to be confirmed on Friday, Mr. Trump’s arrival here won’t include a full-scale clearing-out of officials appointed by President Barack Obama, despite the sharp change in direction the new administration represents. Mr. Trump will keep on dozens of Mr. Obama’s appointees for now, including some key national-security officials whose policies Mr. Trump has criticized, a Trump spokesman said.
Instead, when Mr. Trump arrives at the White House after his noon swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural parade, he plans to issue only a handful of orders, including some routine security actions. He is promising more activity at the start of next week, including the introduction of “extreme vetting” procedures for immigrants that he had promised during the election campaign, Mr. Trump said in a Wall Street Journal interview last week.
The incoming president arrived in Washington on Thursday to much fanfare. He dined with members of his team and Republican leaders in Congress, laid a ceremonial wreath in Arlington National Cemetery, and attended a concert staged in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall attended by thousands of supporters from around the country, including Nelson Smith, an 83-year-old from San Diego.
“We needed a warrior leader, someone who is going to calm things down in the world,” said Mr. Smith, who sat in a wheelchair and wore a blue “Trump 2016” baseball hat. “I want to see what he does and whether he follows through on his plan.”
Addressing the crowd after the concert, Mr. Trump said: “We all got tired of seeing what was happening and we wanted change, but we wanted real change. And I so look forward to tomorrow. We’re going to see something that is going to be so amazing.”
Yet Mr. Trump also faces the kind of controversy that has surrounded him since he began his unlikely campaign for the world’s most powerful job almost two years ago. Public polls show his approval rating is low, compared with his recent predecessors when entering office, and more than 60 Democratic members of the House have said they will skip his swearing-in after he criticized civil-rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.
At least two of Mr. Trump’s nominees are expected to be confirmed on Friday, giving him key members of his national-security team. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York said Thursday that Democrats would allow votes on Gen. James Mattis, the defense secretary pick, and retired Gen. John Kelly, selected to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Trump is planning to attend a Saturday swearing-in of Mike Pompeo, his pick to run the Central Intelligence Agency. But Mr. Schumer said that some Democrats had concerns about the U.S. House member from Kansas, and would insist that his nomination and others be debated on the Senate floor, which wouldn’t happen until next week.
Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, accused Democrats of employing “stall tactics.”
To fill the gap, Mr. Trump will keep dozens of top officials who have been at the forefront of the Obama administration’s foreign-policy initiatives.
Adam Szubin, who was deeply involved in the Iran nuclear deal as acting undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, will stay on at least initially, Mr. Spicer said Thursday.
Mr. Trump will also keep Brett McGurk, Mr. Obama’s envoy to the Islamic State fight who also helped coordinate $1.7 billion of cash payments to Iran—payments that Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized during the campaign.
Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as U.S. president on Jan. 20. Here's a look at everything from the parade route to the numbers of protesters and people expected. Photo: Getty Images.
Messrs. Szubin and McGurk are among more than 50 Obama administration appointees in “critical posts” that Mr. Trump will keep “until we can find a successor for this administration,” Mr. Spicer said. Others include Robert Work, the deputy secretary of defense; Nick Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center; and some of Mr. Obama’s State Department picks.
Trump transition personnel met on Wednesday with National Security Council staffers in the Obama administration, one of the few occasions that the incoming and outgoing teams have had face-to-face meetings.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is also aiming to quell an uprising within his own defense and foreign-policy team.
His pick for national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has long clashed with the intelligence-community establishment over the U.S. fight against global terrorism, and is now butting heads with members of Mr. Trump’s team, including Rex Tillerson, Mr. Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Gen. Mattis and Mr. Pompeo.
Officials inside and close to the transition said that Gen. Flynn has been pushing various people for jobs at State and Defense, and is perceived as overreaching in his role as national security adviser.
Two of Mr. Trump’s top advisers—his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Steve Bannon, his chief strategist and senior counselor—have met with the trio to soothe concerns about Mr. Flynn, said two people with knowledge of the talks.
“He’s pushing a lot of people” at State and Defense, one of the people said about Mr. Flynn. “His influence he’s trying to amass will get rolled back the moment [cabinet secretaries] get confirmed.”
Concerns about Mr. Flynn led to a decision from Mr. Trump’s team to move some responsibilities for overseeing counterterrorism and cybersecurity away from Mr. Flynn’s office, the people said. Those changes were announced late last month when Mr. Trump named Thomas Bossert as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. He will report directly to the president instead of to Mr. Flynn.
Mr. Bossert’s more senior status has sown confusion in a transition process that was already beset by a lack of coordination with Obama administration officials, said people familiar with the matter.
A group of transition personnel met with Mr. Obama’s national security aides this week and said that key issues about how the staff will be structured remain to be worked out, an official with knowledge of the process said. For instance, it isn’t clear if Mr. Bossert will handle domestic counterterrorism issues in his role as homeland security adviser while Mr. Flynn handles the foreign side.
Historically, such fundamental matters would have been worked out by the time the president-elect takes the oath of office. But the Trump team has been running behind schedule.
A Trump transition official said Mr. Bossert’s elevation doesn’t reflect any lack of confidence in Mr. Flynn. The move “should not be interpreted any other way than the president-elect taking homeland security seriously.”
“The president-elect…believes it deserves special attention and should not be lumped in with another category,” said the official, who requested anonymity to speak without authorization.
Mr. Flynn on Thursday joined Mr. Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and their families for the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, one of several pre-inauguration events attended by Mr. Trump this week.
Mr. Pence described Mr. Trump’s transition as a benchmark for future presidents. He said about $1.2 million, or about 20% of the funds earmarked for the preparations, would be returned to the treasury.
“Our job is to be ready on Day One,” Mr. Pence told reporters in Washington. “The American people can be confident that we will be.” |
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