1.
Inside Donald Trump’s Chaotic Transition
Time Nov. 17, 2016
Mike
Segar—REUTERS“I think I’m a sober person. I think the press tries to make you
into something a little bit different. In my case, a little bit of a wild man.
I’m not. I’m actually not. I’m a very sober person.” Nov. 11, interview with 60
Minutes
The President-elect lays the groundwork for his January move into the
Oval Office. But he's quickly learning that politicians campaign, Presidents
govern. Inside the chaotic first days of Donald J. Trump's transition to power,
it's clear that he faces a steep learning curve
Donald Trump spent the
hours after he won the White House perched in his 26th-floor office as a long
line of well-wishers cycled through with grand ideas about his government. The
President-elect contemplated his visit to the White House the next day to set
in motion one of the most unexpected transitions of power America has seen in
its history. But first: something special. As he gazed out on Central Park,
Trump mused about a weekend victory tour to places that delivered his surprise
win, sending aides scurrying to prepare. Trump had fed off the energy of his audiences for the
17-month campaign, and he wanted one final fix. He was a winner, and winners
are rewarded.
Trump’s
aides, who themselves were just coming to grips with the enormity of the task
they faced, nearly all implored their boss to focus on the decidedly unsexy
task of putting together a government instead. In the end Trump agreed, and in
the process perhaps revealed the most important lesson of his first week as
leader-of-the-free-world-in-waiting: only when he faces a united front will he
reverse one of his decisions. It was an all-voices-on-deck moment for the
Trump-whispering group of advisers known as the Foxhole amongst themselves, and
as the Avengers to the outsiders.
If
the week after Election Day is designed to be a pageant of peaceful transition,
it is also a period for the brutal consolidation of power. The winners decide
who from the campaign stays and who goes, while losers lick their wounds and
look for answers. In the aftermath of Election 2016, those dramas played out
for the American public like never before, plus they got a close look at the
45th President as he started working out both in private and in public what
sort of leader he would become.
Surprise
is almost always part of the deal. During one lull in daydreaming on Nov. 9,
Trump picked up the phone and had a brief conversation with the man who for
months had been working to move the political operation from a New York
campaign to a Washington machine. “Are we all set?” he asked New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie, a longtime pal who combined governing experience with
brashness to rival Trump’s. It was a work in progress. On Election Day,
Christie had signed the legally required memorandum of understanding with the
White House to begin the formal transfer of power. But the entire
Cabinet-in-waiting was an open question, along with everyone at the White
House, from the party planners and receptionist to his top policy wonks and the
men and women who would explain it all to the public.
In
the American system, a President has more than 4,000 political appointments to
begin filling in the crucial weeks between election and inauguration. Christie
had made many trips to Washington to set up a transition, but progress had
slowed as the polls seemed to indicate no such effort would ultimately be
needed. It wasn’t long before the first transition to take place was
Christie’s. The New Jersey governor had never been a favorite of conservatives,
or of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose father Christie had sent to jail
years ago for making illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and tampering
with a witness. By Nov. 10, Christie had breakfast with Vice President–elect
Mike Pence in New York, and it wasn’t long after that Pence had replaced
Christie as transition chief. Christie could stay around with a title if he
wanted, but everyone suspected his days as a member of the formal inner circle
were over. Days later, even those close to Christie, like intelligence expert and
former Representative Mike Rogers and Christie attorney William Palatucci,
would be purged as well. Trump subsequently called Rogers, trying to bring him
back.
Christie
was still fielding calls from Trump after the shake-up. “This thing is heading
into a bridge abutment. It didn’t have to be this way,” one senior Republican
involved in the transition said of the turmoil. “But it is.”
There
was little doubt about who in Trumpland signed Christie’s execution order.
Kushner, 35, the boyish-looking son of another real estate magnate, who is
married to Ivanka Trump, had been the hidden hand within the campaign since
June, when the family became convinced his existing team was ill-prepared for
the challenge of running a general election. Kushner, a real estate and media
executive, had little experience in elective politics or governing. But with
his unfettered access to Trump and his cherished older daughter, he came to
become the shadow campaign manager. His role in the White House, whatever it
is, will be among the most important to watch.
There
were suggestions, no proof, but hints, certainly, that the Donald Trump who has
emerged through the crucible of the campaign as President-elect is not the same
as the one who closed out the campaign, with a defiant blitz of bombast that
covered eight states in the final two days. The new Trump looked and sounded
almost subdued. “It’s enormous,” he told Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes during his
first broadcast interview as President-elect a few days later. “I’ve done a lot
of big things. I’ve never done anything like this.”
Instead
of repeating his calls to imprison Hillary Clinton for behavior the FBI said
didn’t rise to the level of indictment, he praised his rival and her husband,
the ex-President, for their gracious phone calls after the upset. “I don’t want
to hurt them. They are good people,” he told Stahl. He again mentioned that
he’d work to save parts of Obamacare and not work for a wholesale repeal,
though he had said such things before. And he suggested, once again, that he
would reconsider his plan for mass deportations of those in the country
illegally but had not committed violent crimes. As for the wall at the Mexican
border, he signaled that he would be fine with fencing in some places.
But
key features of the man had not changed. He still wanted to revisit trade deals
and loved his Twitter account, which returned to frequent media criticism. In
business and politics, Trump had always prided himself on unpredictability.
“It’s a great form of communication. Now, do I say I’ll give it up entirely,”
he told CBS.
“I’m not saying I love it, but it does get the word out.” And he seemed to
delight in the first week of his new power in keeping the country guessing. “I
am the only one who knows who the finalists are!” he tweeted, discussing his
Cabinet picks.
Two
days after voters chose, when Trump flew to D.C. to meet with the man he would
succeed, it was clear that the reality part of his great political reality show
was setting in. He sounded sober and avoided eye contact after he and Barack
Obama talked for an hour and a half about the weight of the world that would
transfer from one man’s shoulders to the other’s. “This office has a way of
waking you up,” Obama helpfully observed on Nov. 14. He emphasized the need for
Trump to hire the best people for the really important jobs.
2. South Korea’s President Must Go
The New York Times NOV. 9, 2016
Protesters
wearing masks of President Park Geun-hye of Korea, forward, and her confidante
Choi Soon-sil, rear, in Seoul last month. CreditJung Yeon-Je/Agence
France-Presse — Getty Images
SEOUL,
South Korea — President Park Geun-hye of South Korea was destined to be a
political leader. She grew up in the presidential residence as a daughter of
South Korea’s longest-ruling dictator, Park Chung-hee. After her mother died in
a 1974 assassination attempt against her father, Ms. Park became the country’s
de facto first lady. She later was a lawmaker for 15 years, crafting an image
as a deft politician while helping to build a conservative party with national
security and economic growth as its core message. She became the country’s
first female president in 2013.
Ms.
Park’s personal history and image as a corruption-free conservative have been
her main political assets. But that image quickly faded in September when the
news media began looking at her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil. Ms. Choi is
accused of using her connection to the president to extort money, advance her
own daughter’s career and influence government policy.
The
nation was first stunned, then enraged, by the revelations. By some estimates,
200,000 people took to downtown Seoul on Saturday to demand Ms. Park’s
resignation. The government has come to a standstill, and Ms. Park’s approval
ratings are in the single digits.
The
relationship between Ms. Park and Ms. Choi apparently began after the death of
Ms. Park’s mother. Ms. Choi’s father, Choi Tae-min, reportedly approached the
young Ms. Park with the claim that he could make contact with her dead mother.
Mr. Choi, a shadowy cult leader, died in 1994, but the connection between Ms.
Choi and Ms. Park deepened over the decades.
Until
recently, the public did not know just how much influence Ms. Choi had over Ms.
Park. According to the left-leaning newspaper Hankyoreh, two
foundations under Ms. Choi’s control were ushered through the government
approval process at record speed. Some of South Korea’s top companies donated
tens of millions of dollars to them, and some of that money was then funneled
to Germany, where Ms. Choi owns real estate and several shell companies. In a
parallel case, Ms. Choi is said to have used her connection to the president to
win special treatment for her daughter.
The
allegations have snowballed as journalists have continued to dig. Ms. Park is
accused of allowing Ms. Choi to influence government policies, including the
decision to close an inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea. Ms.
Choi edited Ms. Park’s speeches, reportedly placed her associates in positions
of power in the government and helped her cronies win lucrative government
contracts. She has been detained by
the authorities since Oct. 31.
South
Koreans are hardly naïve about the failings of politicians. Embezzlement and
influence-peddling are common. Ms. Park, though, had always appeared above the
fray, which is one reason, along with Ms. Choi’s shady family background, she
has fallen so hard, so quickly.
3. Narendra
Modi Bans India’s Largest Currency Bills in Bid to Cut Corruption
The New York
Times NOV. 8, 2016
India’s
prime minister, Narendra Modi, who campaigned on an anticorruption platform,
announced a ban on the country’s largest currency bills. CreditAmit
Dave/Reuters
NEW
DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired a
direct shot at India’s endemic corruption
with a surprise move on Tuesday to ban the country’s largest currency bills,
starting the next morning.
The
ban is intended both to curb the flow of counterfeit money and to take aim at terrorist
organizations that rely on unaccounted-for cash. It is also expected to help
the government clean up a system that has relied on cash to pay bribes and to
avoid taxes.
But
the announcement, made on national television in both Hindi and English, led to
an immediate upheaval in the country. Abolishing the current version of the 500
and 1,000 rupee notes, worth about $8 and $15, will effectively remove 80
percent of the currency in circulation.
Mr.
Modi said banks would be closed on Wednesday. After that, people can exchange
the banned notes through the end of the year for those of smaller denominations
or new bills that are being created.
A.T.M.s
around the country were overrun Tuesday night with people confused about the
plan and trying to complete financial transactions before the machines closed
the following day. In some places, hundreds stood in line in front of a single
A.T.M.
Cash
is so prevalent in Indian society that the ban came with a 72-hour exception
for paying for hospital bills and airline tickets. India’s low-cost carrier,
IndiGo Airlines, sent an email warning customers that banned notes could not be
used to purchase in-flight services or to pay excess baggage charges.
The
decision amounted to a “surgical strike” on the country’s vast amount of
unaccounted-for cash, said Manish Kejriwal, founder of Kedaara Capital
Advisors, a Mumbai private equity firm, using
a military term.
“This
is Modi’s transformational reform,” said Deepak Parekh, chairman of Housing
Development Finance Corporation, one of India’s largest mortgage lenders.
“It
will be disruptive, it will be inconvenient, but in the medium term, it will be
very good.”
Mr.
Modi was elected in 2014 after running on an anticorruption platform that
included a pledge to fight unaccounted-for cash, also referred to as “black
money.” The results have been mixed.
Under
one tax amnesty program, Indians owned up this year to about $10 billion in
income on which taxes had not been paid, the Modi administration said last
month. But another effort encouraging people to declare hidden assets and
income abroad met with limited success.
“There’s
a perception that whatever he has done on the corruption front is not enough,”
said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations at King’s College
London, noting that elections in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh,
were expected to take place early next year. “Politically he probably felt he
needed to do something more visible.”
While
the currency plan had been under discussion for some time, few had expected
such a bold step. Mr. Modi kept the decision quiet to prevent holders of vast
amounts of unaccounted-for cash from outwitting the ban.
The
problems run deep.
Global
Financial Integrity, a Washington think tank, has estimated that India lost
$344 billion in illicit outflows of money in the decade leading up to 2011.
But
it is unclear what the full impact of the ban will be. Studies have shown that
corruption can be curtailed by reducing cash transactions, but it is unlikely
to be eliminated by the move.
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