webfact Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 U.S. national security handover to Trump bumpy, officials say By Arshad Mohammed REUTERS Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stephanie O'Sullivan answers questions during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the House-passed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reform bill while on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 5, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's national security transition has been more chaotic than others in recent memory, with important positions unfilled and many of his people less able, or willing, to engage on substance, U.S. officials said. The uncertainties surrounding Trump's personnel, policies, and rise to power have rattled many of America's allies, including Japan, Germany and Britain, at a time when China is more assertive, Russia more aggressive, terrorism more diffuse, the Middle East still unstable and North Korea nuclear-armed and unpredictable, said U.S. and foreign diplomats. Disruption and uncertainty can provide strategic advantages, Mark Lagon and Ross Harrison of Georgetown University wrote in Foreign Policy magazine. "But what is seriously in doubt is whether Trump's disruption will be strategic or beneficial to U.S. foreign policy interests. Even before getting elected, he acted like a missile without a guidance system." Top Trump officials, however, described the transition as having gone smoothly, including on national security. Republican Trump's camp announced on Thursday it had asked more than 50 of Democrat Obama's appointees to stay on, but at least three officials, a senior intelligence officer and two diplomats whom Trump wanted to keep on, will depart. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stephanie O'Sullivan, Under Secretary of State Catherine Novelli and Assistant Secretary of State Toria Nuland appear on a Jan. 17 partial list of people the transition wanted to remain after Trump's inauguration on Friday. The two diplomats have told colleagues they are going, and O'Sullivan is keeping her long-standing plans to retire. The State Department declined comment. The Trump transition and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not clearly whether the uncertainties extend to other parts of the government, but another senior official at a national security agency said Trump's effort was "much slower" than the 2001 Bill Clinton-to-George W. Bush or the 2009 Bush-to-Barack Obama handovers. "Personnel appointments were far more advanced in both those cases," said the official, who spoke on condition he not be identified. "In both cases, advance teams were working on substance." During the 2008-2009 transition, the official said, incoming and outgoing officials had worked together on issues "in a very harmonious fashion." "None of that is the case in this transition," he added. He said that he had expected to have met by now with his likely replacement or others on the transition, but had not. "It’s not just me. Everybody’s experience is like mine." 'REAMS OF BRIEFINGS' Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Vice President-elect Michael Pence said Trump's transition was being completed ahead of schedule and under budget. "Our job is to be ready on day one. The American people can be confident that we will be." Trump spokesman Sean Spicer also told reporters that contact between the incoming and outgoing National Security Council staffs had been "tremendous." "We've had reams of briefings," he said. "That is one area where frankly they have been very, very aggressive and robust with both meeting with their counterparts and ensuring that the team is ready to go day one."Trump's team did not respond to requests for further comment. Three State Department officials, though, called the transition there "a mess," and said that until recently the Trump team had little contact with department officials and read few if any of their briefing books. That has left many career officials with misgivings about the incoming administration and the possibility that many foreign policy and national security veterans may be swept out. A dozen serving officials at four intelligence agencies said they are troubled by Trump's apparent disdain for their work; by his designated national security advisor Michael Flynn's perceived bent for conspiracy theories and hostility toward some of his former colleagues; and by what some say is the incoming president's disinterest in the briefings he has received. Two officials with knowledge of those briefings said Trump's attention has wandered, he has asked few questions, has read few if any of the briefing books he's been given – including the one on Russian hacking of the 2016 election - and has requested few topical sessions, one of which was on North Korea. Secretary of State John Kerry and his nominated replacement, Rex Tillerson, were to meet on Thursday, but their schedules did not mesh, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters. One Obama official, who has dealt with the Trump transition team at the State Department and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it appeared 'totally disconnected' from Trump's top echelon of advisers and from Tillerson. Tillerson's nomination is not expected to get a Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote before Monday at the earliest. (Reporting by John Walcott, Jonathan Landay, Arshad Mohammed, Warren Strobel, Phil Stewart, and Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by John Walcott and Grant McCool) -- © Copyright Reuters 2017-01-20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opl Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, webfact said: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's national security transition has been more chaotic than others in recent memory, with important positions unfilled and many of his people less able, or willing, to engage on substance, U.S. officials said. 1 hour ago, webfact said: Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Vice President-elect Michael Pence said Trump's transition was being completed ahead of schedule and under budget. "Our job is to be ready on day one. The American people can be confident that we will be." ? Edited January 20, 2017 by Opl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 This is a good place to track Trump's promises and whether they've been met or not. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/jan/17/trump-o-meter-tracking-102-promises-made-donald-tr/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emster23 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Around 1pm Friday EST would be good time for Putin to invade Baltic States, I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunroaming Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 2 hours ago, Emster23 said: Around 1pm Friday EST would be good time for Putin to invade Baltic States, I would think. He will be too busy celebrating with a magnum of Champagne and a couple of bladder full hookers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtls2005 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 It could be worse, Rick Perry who majored in Animal Sciences at Texas A & M, and got a "D" in a course called "Meats", will be in charge of our nuclear arsenal as Secretary of Energy. I guess Trump thought he showed a lot of energy on DWTS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatertot Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Amateur hour in DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optad Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Tatertot said: Amateur hour in DC 4 more hours and its live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optad Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 2 hours ago, dunroaming said: He will be too busy celebrating with a magnum of Champagne and a couple of bladder full hookers! If he can disengage, south to the crimea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubster Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Oh my god the world is coming to the end, and evil is taking over in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostlink Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Less than one hour an eight year error will come to an end. Happy Nobama Day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vogie Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tandor Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 10 hours ago, Grubster said: Oh my god the world is coming to the end, and evil is taking over in the US. ..The Dark One..(Trumple-stiltskin) has arrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opl Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) 12 hours ago, lostlink said: Less than one hour an eight year error will come to an end. Happy Nobama Day! David Duke @DrDavidDuke We did it! Congratulation Donald J. Trump President of the United States of America! 18:02 - 20 Janv 2017 David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, the White supremacist organization warmly congratulated Donald Trump after his inaugural speech. "We did it!" Edited January 21, 2017 by Opl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iReason Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 "Trump spokesman Sean Spicer also told reporters that contact between the incoming and outgoing National Security Council staffs had been "tremendous." "Three State Department officials, though, called the transition there "a mess," and said that until recently the Trump team had little contact with department officials and read few if any of their briefing books." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timendres Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 I have no axe to grind with Trump, and I hope he can accomplish some good things while in office. But he is going to have to wake up to the fact that being POTUS is very different than what he's been doing for years. He is going to need to engage and actually work! This is a complex job that is so demanding that every president leaves office looking 20 years older than when he entered. Time to end the celebrations, Donald, and get serious. I hope you can surprise us to the upside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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