President-elect Donald Trump seems to have taken a more conciliatory route when it came to his first major White House personnel decision, picking Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff. Priebus, 44, is not just a Washington insider who can help Trump navigate his relationship with lawmakers and other political power players, he’s also seen as broadly acceptable to the Republican Party as a whole. The Washington Post explains:
The choice signals Trump’s willingness to work within the very establishment he assailed on the campaign trail. Priebus, a lawyer and longtime Wisconsin political operative, has been head of the RNC since 2011 and is well liked within Washington after years of forging ties with Republican leaders and lawmakers. He will undoubtedly start to smooth over residual friction from a campaign during which a number of Republicans refused to endorse Trump, reversed their endorsements or stepped away from him after a 2005 tape surfaced in which Trump is heard saying that he could force himself on women because he was a “star.”
There was speculation that Trump would go in another direction and pick Steve Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, as his chief of staff. But instead he has decided to appoint the divisive Bannon to the role of chief strategist and senior counselor.
“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,” Trump said in a press release. The announcement did make clear that even though Bannon wouldn’t officially have the title of chief of staff he would still be very influential. “Bannon and Priebus will continue the effective leadership team they formed during the campaign, working as equal partners to transform the federal government, making it much more efficient, effective and productive,” it said.
Priebus was seen as a particularly good choice not only because of his good relationship with lawmakers in general and House Speaker Paul Ryan specificially, but he’s also well-liked by Trump’s children, a source tells Politico. “If the kids don’t like you, you’re not working for Trump,” the source said.
