Donald Trump didn’t expect to survive primaries: reports
WHILE Donald Trump has vowed to destroy IS, jihadists have their own secret strategy to use his shock US presidential victory to their advantage.
FROM Afghanistan to Algeria, jihadists plan to use Donald Trump’s shock US presidential victory as a propaganda tool to bring new fighters to their battlefields.
Taliban commanders and Islamic State supporters say Trump’s campaign trail rhetoric against Muslims - at one point calling for a total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States - will play perfectly in their recruitment efforts, especially for disaffected youth in the West.
“This guy is a complete maniac. His utter hate towards Muslims will make our job much easier because we can recruit thousands,” Abu Omar Khorasani, a top IS commander in Afghanistan, told Reuters.
“Our leaders were closely following the US election but it was unexpected that the Americans will dig their own graves and they did so,” said Khorasani, who described President Barack Obama as a moderate infidel with at least a little brain in comparison to Trump.
Trump’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statements from the militants.
A senior Taliban commander in Afghanistan said the group, whose resurgence is undermining efforts to end America’s longest war, had kept track of all of Trump’s speeches and anti-Muslim comments.
“If he does what he warned in his election campaign, I am sure it will provoke Muslim Ummah (community) across the world and jihadi organisations can exploit it,” said the militant leader, who declined to be identified. Shortly after Trump’s victory, several jihadist sympathisers took to social media to declare this as an opportunity for their cause.
“The dog Trump’s victory in the US elections is a gold mine for Muslims not a setback if they know how to use it,” tweeted @alhlm200, who regularly posts statements in support of Islamic State.
And in Algeria, @salil_chohada, an Islamic State supporter whose name on the Twitter account is Mohamed Aljazairie, said: “Congratulations to the Muslim nation over the infidel Trump’s victory. His stupid statements alone serve us.” Trump has talked tough against militant groups on the campaign trail, promising to defeat “radical Islamic terrorism just as we won the Cold War.” The president-elect later toned down his call for a total ban on Muslim entry to say he would temporarily suspend immigration from countries that have “a history of exporting terrorism.” But he has offered few details on his plans to combat various radical groups, including IS, the Taliban and al Qaeda, which represent a wide spectrum of political views.
TRUMP’S LOVE-IN CALL TO PUTIN
Trump and Russian strongman leader Vladimir Putin have had a telephone conversation, the Kremlin confirmed.
Putin wished Trump “success in implementing the election program” after his shock victory last week.
The Russian leader said he was now ready to talk with the new administration.
But he said it would have to be based on “the principles of equality”.
Trump for his part was reported to have said he admired Putin, adding he “has been a leader far more than our president”.
Putin then dubbed Trump “a very outstanding person, talented without doubt”.
The Kremlin revealed the duo discussed fighting Syria together and agreed Russian-US relations were “extremely unsatisfactory”.
They also chatted about the fact 2017 marked 210 years since diplomatic relations were established between the countries.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump agreed to stay in touch by phone and to meet in person later, the Kremlin revealed.
Mr Trump’s election has seen a change in tone from Russia towards the US, with state TV channels quickly switching from claims of fraud, to hailing the triumph of the “man of the people”.
Putin was the world’s first leader to congratulate Donald Trump on winning the US Presidential election.
The warm reception from the Russian president suggests relations will be friendly between the two countries, or at least the two men.
OBAMA’S CONCERNS ABOUT TRUMP
Meantime, US President Barack Obama has admitted he still has concerns about successor.
But Obama said he was comforted that Trump appears to be pragmatic, rather than ideological.
“I don’t think he is ideological. I think ultimately he is pragmatic in that way,” Obama told reporters at his first news conference since the Republican billionaire won last week’s presidential election.
“And that can serve him well as long as he’s got good people around him and he has a clear sense of direction,” Obama said.
“Do I have concerns? Absolutely. Of course, I have concerns.
“He and I differ on a whole bunch of issues. But the federal government and our democracy is not a speedboat — it’s an ocean liner.”
Obama also said America must continue to be a “beacon of hope” as the world goes through a period of “great change”.
“This is a time of great change in the world, but America’s always been a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope to people around the globe. And that’s what it must continue to be,” Obama said, speaking at the White House today.
Obama also reflected on his own campaign for president eight years ago, recalling all of the time he spent in Iowa to win that state’s lead-off caucuses.
Obama said he won the state because he spent time going everywhere, meeting everyone.
He stressed that Democrats “have to compete at a grassroots level.”
Obama said that he had urged his successor Trump to reach out to those Americans left upset or fearful by the Republican billionaire’s surprise election win.
“I emphasised to him that, look, in an election like this that was so hotly contested and so divided, gestures matter,” Obama said, after protests in several US cities.
“I did say to him, as I’ve said publicly, that because of the nature of the campaigns and the bitterness and ferocity of the campaigns, it’s really important to try to send some signals of unity, and to reach out to minority groups or women or others that were concerned about the tenor of the campaign.”
The US president also called on the Democratic Party to “compete everywhere” in future elections and said Trump’s win emphasised the importance of exercising one’s right to vote.
“I don’t know how many times we have to relearn this lesson, because we ended up having 43 per cent of the country not voting who were eligible to vote, but it makes a difference,” he said.
Meantime, Obama said he will reassure allies of the United States that his successor Trump supports NATO.
He said he’ll relay Trump’s “commitment to NATO” during his last overseas trip as president.
As a candidate for president, Trump had complained that other members of the treaty organisation did not contribute enough for the protections it affords.
Obama said the reassurance is “one of the most important functions” he can serve during the trip.
GUILIANI TIPPED FOR SECRETARY OF STATE JOB
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has emerged as the favorite to serve as secretary of state in Donald Trump’s incoming administration, a senior Trump official said on Monday - another indication the president-elect is putting a prize on loyalty as he narrows down his Cabinet picks.
The official, who was not authorized to speak on the record and requested anonymity, said there was no real competition for the job and that it was Giuliani’s if he wanted it. But a second official cautioned that John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, remained in contention for the job.
Giuliani, 72, would be an out-of-box choice to lead the State Department. A former mayor, federal prosecutor and top Trump adviser, he lacks extensive foreign policy experience. Known for his hard-line law-and-order views and brusque manner, he would set a very different tone than previous holders of the job, including Trump’s ex-rival Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
Bolton has years of federal government experience, but he has also raised eyebrows with some of his hawkish stances, including a 2015 op-ed in The New York Times in which he advocated bombing Iran to halt the country’s development of nuclear weapons.
A spokeswoman for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his interest in the job. But the former mayor said Monday night at a gathering of CEOs sponsored by the Wall Street Journal that he “won’t be attorney general” in Trump’s administration - a job for which he’d long been seen as a top contender.
Asked about the secretary of state speculation, Giuliani said that Bolton “would be a very good choice.” But asked if there was anyone better, he replied with a mischievous smile: “Maybe me, I don’t know.” Trump was also considering Monday whether to inject new diversity into the GOP by recommending a woman to lead the Republican Party and an openly gay man to represent the United States at the United Nations.
TRUMP DIDN’T THINK HE’D LAST
In the US, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway declined comment to reporters when she was asked about any calls from world leaders that Trump has received.
It came after it was revealed Trump reportedly told Republican rival Chris Christie that he didn’t think he’d last past October 2015 in his bid for the White House.
According to an upcoming book on the 2016 race, the now President-elect was not confident he would succeed past the primaries.
Trump reportedly told Christie that he would endorse him as part of an effort to curb Marco Rubio from making gains.
Instead, Christie endorsed Trump in February in the first sign of capitulation from the Republican establishment.
“Trump told Christie in 2015 that he didn’t expect to make it past October — at which point he would endorse Christie, according to a Christie adviser who asked not to be named in order to speak about behind-the-scenes manoeuvres,” according to the book, written by CNN’s Thomas Lake with reporting from Jodi Enda, Susan Baer and CNN’s political team.
“I think they always had an understanding that the first one out would probably endorse the other,” the adviser said.
Christie has since become one of Trump’s most stalwart defenders, and he is currently under consideration for a number of high-profile cabinet posts.
But on Friday, Christie was looked over as chair of Trump’s transition team, with Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, put in charge of assembling the Trump administration.
BACKLASH OVER TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE APPOINTMENTS
Trump has tapped Washington insider Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and firebrand conservative Stephen Bannon as chief strategist.
Appointing Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman and friend of House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, could help Trump repair his strained relations with members of the Republican Party establishment in Washington.
But giving a top job to Bannon, a fierce critic of Paul Ryan who spearheaded Breitbart News website’s shift into a forum for the “alt-right”, a loose online confederation of Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites, has sparked outrage.
Democrats have called Bannon a promoter of racism and misogyny who is backed by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.
But in morning television interviews, Priebus defended Bannon as a wise and well-educated former naval officer and said he had not encountered the sort of extremist or racist views that critics are assailing.
Hard line Trump backers counting on the wealthy real estate developer to keep his campaign promise to “drain the swamp” of business-as-usual Washington insiders may be disappointed he has named Priebus as chief of staff, a position that serves as gatekeeper and agenda-setter for the president.
The president-elect and his transition team are working on picking members of his Cabinet and the heads of federal agencies.
Among those reported to be under consideration for top posts are former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as a possible secretary of state or secretary of health and human services; Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under President George W. Bush, as a possible defence secretary and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as interior secretary.
Very proud to help elect @realDonaldTrump and @mike_pence! pic.twitter.com/BRQ17bwNcE
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) November 9, 2016
IVANKA TRUMP: ‘I’M GOING TO BE HIS DAUGHTER’
Ivanka Trump said she would not become a part of her father’s administration in an interview aired on Sunday.
The 35-year-old currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions at The Trump Organisation and heads her own eponymous fashion brand.
Although she will not be taking on a government position, she has been named to her father’s transition team, along with siblings Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.
The former model and businesswoman, who was a regular sight on her father’s campaign trail, said she just wanted to concentrate on “being a daughter”.
She took part in the 60 Minutes interview along with her half-sister Tiffany, their brothers Eric and Donald Jr and the future first couple.
OBAMA TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH TRUMP
President Obama was reportedly shocked at how little Donald Trump and his advisers appeared to understand about the myriad duties and responsiblilites the President-elect would be taking on at the White House that he will “spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do” to provide him with additional guidance, a new report claims.
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