WASHINGTON (AP) – The true test now begins for Donald Trump.
The Republican president-elect paid little attention to transition planning leading up to his stunning victory. With 72 days before he takes control of the executive branch, Trump and his senior team on Wednesday immediately began the herculean task of picking a Cabinet and tapping hundreds of appointees to senior roles in key departments – State, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Treasury among them – many requiring multiple security reviews or Senate confirmation.
“They have a long way to go,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, an outside group that was working with both campaigns on transition planning since the summer. “It’s imperative to have the right people brought in fast and they’re prepared.”
Stier described the transition as “a point of maximum vulnerability” for the nation.
Trump’s senior team huddled privately to being a more focused period of transition planning. The group included the transition chairman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and daughter Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, among others.