President-elect Donald Trump appointed an experienced hand from the George W Bush era to his national security circle on Tuesday. He also appointed a figure from the Trump Organisation to make international deals.
Thomas Bossert will become an assistant to the president for homeland security and counter terrorism. A statement from Trump's transition team said that Bossert will advise the president on issues related to homeland security, counter terrorism, and cyber security, and coordinate the Cabinet's process for making and executing policy in those areas.
The position notably "is being elevated and restored to its independent status alongside the national security adviser," the statement said. Policymakers have long debated whether such national security jobs should operate independently from the White House.
Bossert will work closely with Trump's pick for national security adviser, retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn. Bossert is currently president of the risk management consulting firm CDS Consulting. He previously served as deputy assistant to the president for homeland security under Bush.
The president-elect also appointed one of his main advisers on US-Israel relations as special representative for international negotiations. Jason Greenblatt has worked for the Trump Organization for over two decades and currently serves as its executive vice president and chief legal officer.
In the statement, Trump said Greenblatt "has a history of negotiating substantial, complex transactions on my behalf," and has the expertise to "bring parties together and build consensus on difficult and sensitive topics."
Trump’s West Wing is shaping up to have multiple power centers. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior adviser Steve Bannon will work as “equal partners,” according to Trump, and counselor Kellyanne Conway is also expected to have autonomy. Trump’s influential son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will also have a direct line to the president.
Trump has long stoked rivalries among his staff in business and in the campaign. But doing so in the White House could sow confusion and slow decision-making.
Trump recently named his other top adviser on Israel, David Friedman, as his pick for US ambassador to Israel.
The president-elect is spending the holidays in his Florida resort where he has held a steady stream of meetings with senior staffers, advisers and business executives. A number of key posts in his government remain which, his transition team is saying, he will fill in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Trump's efforts to dissolve his charitable foundation before he takes office to eliminate any conflicts of interest appear to be harder than he thought.
The New York attorney general's office said on Tuesday that Trump cannot move ahead with his plan to dismantle his charitable foundation because state prosecutors are probing whether the president-elect personally benefited from its spending.
The Trump foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete.Amy Spitalnick, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
The statement came after Trump announced that he wanted to dissolve the Donald J Trump Foundation, part of what his presidential transition team says is an effort to erase any potential conflicts of interest before he takes office on 20 January.
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