NEW YORK: His inauguration less than three weeks away, Donald Trump worked to fill senior posts in his administration Tuesday as he began to press his agenda at home and abroad.
The incoming president tapped as U.S. trade representative a former Reagan official who has condemned Republicans’ commitment to free trade. Trump indicated that Robert Lighthizer, who is expected to take a hard line against China, would represent “the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first.”
The new administration’s specific plans for crafting new trade deals, spokesman Sean Spicer said, “will come in time.”
While several hundred high-level White House posts remain unfilled, just a handful of outstanding Cabinet-level vacancies remain, specifically in the departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as a director of national intelligence.
Trump’s private meetings Tuesday included one with Leo MacKay, a senior executive at a military contractor who previously served in the Department of Veterans Affairs under President George W. Bush.
“The president-elect is up on the issues,” said MacKay, a senior vice president at Lockheed Martin Corp., citing “first-class health care” for veterans as one of his priorities.
The president also tapped a familiar face from his former reality show to join his administration. Omarosa Manigault, a contestant from the first season of The Apprentice, is expected to focus on public engagement in the White House, according to two people familiar with the decision. They insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the hiring process publicly.
Details about Trump plans have been hard to come by, but he declared late Tuesday on Twitter he would hold his first formal news conference as the president-elect on Jan. 11 in New York City.
Trump has already waited longer than any other president-elect in the modern era to hold his first news conference. Most have held such events within days of their elections.
Meanwhile, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s aides said the couple plan to attend Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, putting the 2016 presidential rivals on the same platform only weeks after their tough campaign. Clinton has largely avoided the public eye since Trump’s victory. The announcement came shortly after former President George W. Bush’s office said he and former first lady Laura Bush would attend.