president-elect donald trump named republican national committee chairman reince priebus as his chief of staff, a selection that suggests the republican is interested in a more conventional approach to governing after his insurgent campaign. mr. trump on sunday also named stephen bannon as his chief strategist and senior counsel. mr. bannon, who was chief executive of the trump campaign, was in consideration with mr. priebus for the white house<u+2019>s top personnel position. <u+201c>steve and reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory,<u+201d> mr. trump said in a statement. <u+201c>now i will have them both with me in the white house as we work to make america great again.<u+201d> capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for trump transition news. the selection of mr. priebus as staff chief is an important marker in mr. trump<u+2019>s high-pressure race against the clock to build the next administration . that effort begins in earnest on monday, as his broader transition team holds its first formal meetings since a shake-up on friday that installed vice president-elect mike pence atop the organization. still, mr. trump<u+2019>s transition is slightly behind the pace set by previous incoming presidents and the timetable established by his own team. president barack obama, for example, named his chief of staff two days after winning the 2008 campaign. inside the trump transition team, a broader group of officials known as the <u+201c>landing team<u+201d> was supposed to have been announced on friday and start inspecting agencies for potential changes this coming week. that was delayed after mr. trump shuffled the transition team<u+2019>s leadership. another contributing factor: mr. trump<u+2019>s victory surprised even his own top advisers, who, before tuesday, were unable to focus the new york businessman on the 73 days between the election and inauguration, a senior aide said. they said mr. trump didn<u+2019>t want to jinx himself by planning the transition before he had actually won. during their private white house meeting on thursday, mr. obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country , and mr. trump seemed surprised by the scope, said people familiar with the meeting. trump aides were described by those people as unaware that the entire presidential staff working in the west wing had to be replaced at the end of mr. obama<u+2019>s term. after meeting with mr. trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, mr. obama realized the republican needs more guidance. he plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said. jason miller, communications director for the trump transition, declined to comment on those characterizations of the white house visit. he said in a statement that, <u+201c>the difference between president-elect trump and a politician is that trump puts a premium on making the right decision, not the politically expedient one. president-elect trump<u+2019>s excellent judgment and temperament has served him well in business and in life, and he<u+2019>s not going to be swayed by a bunch of political insiders responsible for filling up the swamp in the first place.<u+201d> there are signs that mr. trump has tempered several of his top campaign promises . he vowed during the campaign to build a wall along the u.s.-mexico border, but he said in a <u+201c>60 minutes<u+201d> interview broadcast sunday that a fence could be sufficient in some parts. he also told cbs that he is rethinking his call to have a prosecutor investigate hillary clinton , saying of the clintons that <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t want to hurt them<u+201d> and <u+201c>they<u+2019>re good people.<u+201d> still, he said in the interview that he would aim to jail or deport between two million and three million illegal immigrants whom he described as criminals, gang members and drug dealers. he didn<u+2019>t specify how he would do this. the obama administration already has made deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records a priority. the selection of mr. priebus will, by definition, help organize the transition. this decision allows mr. trump and his team to focus on identifying 15 cabinet positions and more than 1,000 top posts that must be confirmed by the senate. born: education: political career: personal background: trump ties: a trained attorney, mr. priebus first interacted with the trump inner circle in september 2015 when he persuaded the political neophyte to sign a pledge to support the gop nominee, even if he lost the primary. he was among a small group inside a glass-encased trump tower conference room with mr. trump when they were informed the washington post was preparing to publish an 11-year-old video in which the nominee made lewd comments about forcing himself on women . as the rest of mr. trump<u+2019>s team strategized the response, mr. priebus was largely sidelined by an avalanche of calls and emails from top republicans urging him to pull the party<u+2019>s funding from the trump campaign. while mr. priebus<u+2019>s elevation is a nod to the washington establishment, mr. bannon brings a more disruptive political force into the white house. the former goldman sachs banker became chairman of the trump campaign in late summer, leaving his position atop breitbart news. that website has taken aim at establishment gop figures and is identified with the <u+201c>alt right,<u+201d> a movement that promotes nativism and views immigration and multiculturalism as threats to white identity. after he joined the campaign, mr. bannon pushed mr. trump to focus on white working-class voters and was instrumental in assembling a surprise news conference just hours before a presidential debate that featured mr. trump and several women who had accused his rival<u+2019>s husband , former president bill clinton, of sexual misconduct. at the news conference, mr. bannon, wearing glasses and pushing his hands into his jacket pockets, flashed a mischievous smile as stunned reporters<u+2014>who had been told they would be witnessing debate preparations<u+2014>surveyed the room. <u+201c>bannon is going to be keeper of the image of trump as a fighter against the status quo, and reince is going to utilize his personal connections with the speaker and others, to make the trains run on time,<u+201d> said ken blackwell, a former ohio state official and a member of the transition team. while other former campaign officials met in new york on sunday, the broader transition staff based in washington gathers on monday. they will discuss the so-called landing teams tasked with entering federal agencies and reporting back on potential changes. friday<u+2019>s reorganization of the transition team increased the influence of mr. pence and sen. jeff sessions (r., ala.), who now has several allies holding top staff positions. the role for new jersey gov. chris christie, who had been in charge of the transition, has been diluted. the slower decision-making process is also amplified by mr. trump<u+2019>s lack of public appearances since the election, even as protests erupt around the country following his election. while mr. obama and his predecessor, republican george w. bush in 2000, used constant news conferences after their victories to speak to americans, mr. trump has held none, only doing a wall street journal interview and the <u+201c>60 minutes<u+201d> appearance. on sunday, mr. trump noted that he had received congratulatory calls from republicans who were opposed to his candidacy. mr. trump said primary rival jeb bush and his father and brother, the two most recent republican presidents, all called <u+201c>to express their best wishes.<u+201d> mitt romney, the party<u+2019>s 2012 nominee, also called to offer his congratulations. <u+2014>damian paletta contributed to this article. write to michael c. bender at mike.bender@wsj.com and carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
rnc chair reince priebus is named donald trump<u+2019>s chief of staff - wsj
michael c. bender carol e. lee