Trump chooses Priebus, Bannon for key White House roles

US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday named Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and his campaign CEO Stephen Bannon as chief strategist, in an unusual move that could create two power centers in the White House.

Trump, who would be sworn in as the 45th President of the US on January 20, made the announcement, which will set the tone for the new White House. Both the positions, which do not require Senate confirmation, would come into effect the day 70-year-old Trump replaces Barack Obama as the President of the USA.

This unusual arrangement could create two power centers in the White House, the US media reported, citing the campaign statement which said the two men will be “equal partners.” 

“I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country,” Trump said.

“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,” he said.

Priebus and Bannon 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, the Trump Transition Team said in a statement.

They will also work together with Vice President-elect Mike Pence to help lead the transition process in the run-up to Inauguration Day, it said.

“I want to thank President-elect Trump for the opportunity to work with Reince in driving the agenda of the Trump Administration,” Bannon said.

“We had a very successful partnership on the campaign, one that led to victory. We will have that same partnership in working to help President-elect Trump achieve his agenda,” he added.

“It is truly an honour to join President-elect Trump in the White House as his Chief of Staff. I am very grateful to the President-elect for this opportunity to serve him and this nation as we work to create an economy that works for everyone, secure our borders, repeal and replace Obamacare and destroy radical Islamic terrorism. He will be a great President for all Americans,” Priebus said.

Trump defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential vote, in a result which shocked many who had expected her to win following favourable opinion polls.

US president-elect Donald Trump has said he has not given a thought yet on appointing a special prosecutor against his bitter campaign rival Hillary Clinton and instead wants to focus on major issues such as jobs, health and immigration along with border security. 

“I feel that I want to focus on jobs, I want to focus on healthcare, I want to focus on the border and immigration and doing a really great immigration bill. We want to have a great immigration bill. I want to focus on all of these other things that we’ve been talking about,” Trump told CBS ‘60 Minute’ programme that was aired on Sunday. 

Trump said he wants to “get the country straightened away” instead of thinking about appointing special prosecutors against Clinton. “I don’t want to hurt them. I don’t want to hurt them. They’re, they’re good people. I don’t want to hurt them. 

And I will give you a very, very good and definitive answer the next time we do 60 Minutes together,” he said when reminded about his campaign rhetoric. Responding to a question, he said he has not made up his mind if he would ask for the resignation of the FBI Director James Comey for his decisions related to the investigations against Clinton. “I don’t –I haven’t made up my mind. I respect him a lot. I respect the FBI a lot,” he said.