| | | | Israel asks for -- and receives -- Trump's help vs. Obama | | The Israeli government reached out to President-elect Donald Trump for help in pressuring the Obama administration to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlement activity, a senior Israeli official told CNN's Elise Labott, Oren Liebermann and Nicole Gaouette.
How it happened: Egypt delayed a potential showdown vote at the Security Council on the resolution after pressure from the Israelis, a Western official said Thursday. That put off a potential standoff between the United States and Israel and prompted what some analysts called unprecedented interference from the US President-elect.
This is part of a broader trend. On sensitive issues of diplomacy and national security, Trump has displayed a continued willingness to pressure and contradict President Barack Obama, eschewing a "one president at a time" policy that Obama insists must govern the peaceful transition of power, writes CNN's Kevin Liptak.
A new arms race? Trump said he will look to "strengthen and expand" the United States' nuclear capability hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to enhance his country's nuclear forces. The Washington Post's Carol Morello lays out why this is such a dramatic break from US policy. Here's what Trump tweeted today: | | More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any other losing presidential candidate in US history. The Democrat outpaced President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Where's this stand in history? Clinton's 2.1% margin ranks third among defeated candidates, according to statistics from US Elections Atlas. Andrew Jackson won by more than 10% in 1824 but was denied the presidency, which went to John Quincy Adams. In 1876, Samuel Tilden received 3% more votes than Rutherford B. Hayes, who eventually triumphed by one electoral vote. | | The next White House press secretary: Sean Spicer | | President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer, 45, to serve as White House press secretary.
What's this mean? For Washington reporters who fear Trump's treatment of the press, Spicer's appointment may be seen as a positive sign. While Spicer can be combative with critics and, like Trump, is known for unleashing his Twitter account on reporters and news organizations, he is also a veteran of the Washington press relations game and likely to provide an open line of communication into Trump's White House.
More communications team roles: Trump campaign press secretary Hope Hicks will become director of strategic communications, Jason Miller, a top spokesperson on Trump's presidential campaign, will be director of communications, and Trump social media guru Dan Scavino will be director of social media. "Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition. I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again," Trump said in a statement.
Also landing a plum White House job: Kellyanne Conway, Trump's third and final campaign manager. She'll be a "counselor to the president." | | "I don't play golf and I don't have a mistress." -- Kellyanne Conway, explaining on Fox Business Network why she has time for a new role as counselor in Donald Trump's White House and to raise four children. | | | Tom Perez's DNC bid gets four governors' endorsements | | Labor Secretary Tom Perez received the endorsements of four governors -- Virginia's Terry McAuliffe, Colorado's John Hickenlooper, Rhode Island's Gina Raimondo and Louisiana's John Bel Edwards -- in his bid to become the next Democratic National Committee chairman today. The news was first on CNN.
Five of 17 Democrat governors are now off the sidelines. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton had already backed Ellison -- who also has high-profile Capitol Hill support from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer and others.
No GOP mandate? That's the case Jesse Ferguson, the former Hillary Clinton press aide, made in a Time Magazine op-ed today. He wrote: "If we don't fight back against unfounded claims of a mandate, or navel-gazing that this election was a total rejection of our party, we will be wondering why the Republican agenda has gained momentum in just a few short months." | | The problem with John Bolton's mustache | | The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and Karen Tumulty had a story this morning about President-elect Donald Trump's casting call for "the look" -- and included this tidbit about former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, who has been in the running for a State Department post:
"Several of Trump's associates said they thought that John R. Bolton's brush-like mustache was one of the factors that handicapped the bombastic former United Nations ambassador in the sweepstakes for secretary of state. 'Donald was not going to like that mustache,' said one associate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly. 'I can't think of anyone that's really close to Donald that has a beard that he likes.'"
Here's how Bolton responded: | | | Illinois GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner is pumping $50 million of his own money into his re-election campaign for 2018, hoping to scare off Democratic foes. ... Democrats are hoping to use confirmation hearings to prove their argument that President-elect Donald Trump's picks are at odds with the bests interests of Americans he's promised to help. ... Edward Snowden has been in contact with Russian intelligence officials since arriving in Russia in 2013, according to a new report from Congress. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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