| | | | Trump talks Clinton, climate, conflicts and neo-Nazis | | President-elect Donald Trump brushed aside his campaign promises to jail Hillary Clinton, batted away questions about conflicts of interest over his business empire and denounced the neo-Nazi movement that is celebrating his victory. He said his son-in-law could solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Trump changed his views on climate change. It all came in an interview with The New York Times -- which wasn't broadcast or live-streamed, but was live-tweeted by several of the newspaper's reporters, with the entire political world following along.
One big headline is about Clinton. Trump said he doesn't want to "hurt the Clintons" and that doing so would be "very, very divisive for the country." The Times' Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael Shear have more on that decision, which has disappointed some of his most fervent supporters -- more on that below.
Here are other the top stories from an interview that included tons of news:
Trump likes President Barack Obama ... "I didn't know if I'd like him. I probably thought that maybe I wouldn't, but I did. I really enjoyed him a lot," he said of their recent meeting.
... but is wary about Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, his party's congressional leaders. "Right now they're in love with me," Trump said. "Four weeks ago, they weren't in love with me."
An almost Nixonian view of his potential conflicts of interest? "The law's totally on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest."
A new take on climate change? Trump had vowed to scrap the Paris accords during the campaign. Now? "I'm looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it," he said. Trump also admitted there is "some connectivity" between climate change and human activity.
Disavowing a pro-Trump white supremacist group: "I don't want to energize the group, and I disavow the group," he told the Times. "It's not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why."
Big Middle East ambitions: "I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. That would be such a great achievement," Trump said, pointing to son-in-law Jared Kushner as a possible envoy.
More on all this in my takeaways from Trump's Times interview. | | "We've got … renowned character actors, like the guy from 'Space Jam.'" -- President Barack Obama, a Chicago Bulls fan, needling Michael Jordan at a White House Medal of Freedom ceremony. | | | | President Barack Obama isn't short at 6 feet 1 inch. But he sure looked it standing next to the 7-foot-2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar today. | | | Here's a list of the recipients at Obama's last Medal of Freedom ceremony. | | Trump transition: Romney considering State post | | Mitt Romney is seriously considering the possibility of serving as secretary of state, a source familiar with the transition discussions tells CNN's Jim Acosta. The source added it's certain Romney is discussing the prospect with his family members, who also serve as his closest advisers. A decision is not likely until after the holiday.
How would Romney play? Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer tonight: "If it's his choice, I hope he takes it. If Donald Trump is still deciding, I hope that he picks Mitt. I think it would be fantastic for this country."
The big divide between Trump and Romney would be Russia. In the 2012 campaign, Romney called Russia "our No. 1 geopolitical foe." That comment looks wise in hindsight. Trump, of course, has been much cozier with Vladimir Putin. | | | "Broken promise" is how Breitbart -- a pro-Donald Trump propaganda site during the election -- was playing Trump's reversal on prosecuting Hillary Clinton today. | | Trump security pick called 'Islamism' a 'vicious cancer' | | Per Andrew Kaczynski of CNN's K-File: Donald Trump's pick to be national security adviser, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, called "Islamism" a "vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people" that has to be "excised" during an August speech. Flynn, who has called Islam as a whole a "cancer" in the past, made the comments during a speech to the Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Video of his speech is available on YouTube.
"We are facing another 'ism,' just like we faced Nazism, and fascism, and imperialism and communism," Flynn said. "This is Islamism, it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised."
Flynn also said a false conspiracy theory that Democrats were pushing Sharia law in Florida was fact. | | Trump's charity admits to 'self-dealing' | | The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold reports: "President-elect Donald Trump's charitable foundation has admitted to the IRS that it violated a legal prohibition against 'self-dealing,' which bars nonprofit leaders from using their charity's money to help themselves, their businesses or their families. The admission was contained in the Donald J. Trump Foundation's IRS tax filings for 2015, which were recently posted online at the nonprofit-tracking site GuideStar. A GuideStar spokesman said the forms were uploadeded by the Trump Foundation's law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius."
The Trump Foundation received a $150,000 donation from a Ukrainian oligarch in exchange for Trump's video appearance at a conference, BuzzFeed's Paul McLeod reports. | | A Politico editor resigned this morning after posting on Facebook the address of Donald Trump-supporting neo-Nazi Richard Spencer. ... North Carolina GOP Gov. Pat McCrory wants a recount even though the vote tally there shows Democrat Roy Cooper beat him by thousands of votes. ... Michelle Rhee, the controversial former D.C. schools head and education reformer, says she doesn't want to become Trump's secretary of education.
A note to readers: We're taking Wednesday and Thursday off to celebrate Thanksgiving. Nightcap is back on Sunday, with Tom LoBianco pinch-hitting. And I'll be back with you on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving! | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out CNNMoney's Reliable Sources, an insider's look into the media brought to you by Brian Stelter. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
Post a Comment