exit polls revealed 61 percent of americans don't believe donald trump is ready to be president. | getty the president-elect has no political or military experience, few policy specifics, and a motley crew of advisers. by eli stokols 11/09/16 04:53 am est new york city <u+2014> it didn't matter to donald trump's supporters that he offered voters few specifics on policy. it didn't matter to them that, in building out his campaign, he seemed to value flattery and loyalty over experience. it didn't matter, to many at least, that he insulted his rivals, objectified women, mocked the disabled and encouraged violence at his rallies. now it matters to the united states and the world. story continued below exit polls revealed 61 percent of americans don't believe trump is ready to be president. and yet, what much of the country thought was unthinkable is now all the country is thinking about: donald trump will soon be sitting behind the resolute desk in the oval office. even trump<u+2019>s most ardent supporters aren<u+2019>t sure what comes next, although they<u+2019>re thrilled by the very uncertainty that terrifies democrats and the elites the president-elect so often railed against. "the country should be freaked out, because trump picked the scab. he picked the scab off the media, he picked the scab off the political establishment and revealed a lot of things that people probably weren't aware of, but now they are,<u+201d> said joe griffin, a new hampshire resident who attended more than a dozen trump rallies and attended his victory party at the hilton midtown. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s okay if we bleed a little bit. this country just needed a change.<u+201d> perhaps more than with any president-elect in recent memory, there is deep uncertainty about what happens next<u+2014>with what trump's cabinet, his legislative agenda and, over time, his country will look like. how, many wonder, will an emotionally volatile demagogue unify a divided country and form a governing coalition to lead one of the world's largest democracies? perhaps most immediately, how will he move to calm the financial markets after a massive sell-off tuesday night deepened as his electoral chances improved? off message by glenn thrush when he took the stage here just before 3 a.m. wednesday, he was magnanimous, praising hillary clinton for her service and urging a divided country to come together. <u+201c>working together, we will begin the urgent task of working together and renewing the american dream,<u+201d> trump said. after 17 months of telling voters not to worry about his ability to learn on the fly, even trump's most ardent supporters, as they filed into his victory party here, humbly acknowledged the mammoth task before the billionaire reality television star. "we have really serious weeks ahead to plan and to get ready for this awesome responsibility," said steve cortes, a financial analyst and trump surrogate from chicago. "and i'll be the first to say, it's going to be a really steep learning curve. "not that leading a movement like this is easy, but it's a lot easier than managing the federal government and being commander in chief and he's not done any of that. but i think he can do this. i'm not equating building a company with [handling] nuclear weapons, but some of the skills, i believe, are transferrable." michael caputo, who first urged trump to run for governor of new york in 2011, believes his business experience and willingness to delegate will serve him well in the white house. and trump's shape-shifting personality, he believes, can be adapted to his new role. 2016 by shane goldmacher and ben schreckinger "he's run a campaign that broke all the rules, and i think governing is a different kind of enterprise," caputo said. "he understands that as a businessman. i think he moves very adeptly from the business world to the political world. i think he can move now into the governing world." although new jersey gov. chris christie has distanced himself from his role at the helm of trump's transition team since bridgegate convictions last week against two former top staffers, the operation itself is humming along, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. a number of top campaign aides are reportedly under consideration for top cabinet posts: rudy giuliani as trump's attorney general; retired army lt. gen. mike flynn as defense secretary; and newt gingrich as secretary of state. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s going to delegate because that<u+2019>s what a businessman does,<u+201d> said dr. jerry falwell, jr., who helped trump gain acceptance from evangelical christians during the primary. <u+201c>the man has built a company from almost scratch to $10 billion and has spent his whole life as an entrepreneur and is inheriting a country that is $20 trillion in debt. i can't think of anyone better to take the helm.<u+201d> many americans are going to be far more focused on what policies trump pursues than on the individuals he appoints to help him. for months, the policy ideas he put forth seemed meant to galvanize an angry base and, perhaps, to shock the mainstream media that covered <u+2014> with incredulity <u+2014> trump's bold promises to build a massive wall along the u.s.-mexico border, to impose a 45 percent tariff on chinese exports and to impose a religious test on aspiring immigrants. now, with sustained republican majorities in the house and senate, trump is in position to pursue them all and it's entirely possible that he will. mike pence, the vice president-elect, now takes on a new significance and a new stature <u+2014> far beyond what he ever had as candidate. he will be trump's bridge to newly emboldened republican majorities in congress, he will play a critical role in building the administration and he will be one of the closest advisers to an inexperienced president. pence, who has been a steadying force with trump and an emissary to republicans in congress, particularly house speaker paul ryan, will be eager to push the legislative agenda that ryan and trump agree on: repealing the affordable care act, slashing taxes and boosting military spending. by kenneth p. vogel and alex isenstadt <u+201c>we're going to do phenomenal on the transition; we've been working on it all day,<u+201d> said anthony scaramucci, an investment banker and trump donor. asked what would top trump<u+2019>s legislative agenda in his first 100 days, he couldn<u+2019>t say. <u+201c>we have a lot of constructive, definitive legislation.<u+201d> beyond that, many of the obama administration's accomplishments are suddenly in jeopardy. trump has vowed to "repeal and replace" obamacare (but has never put forward a specific plan of his own), to roll back executive orders granting amnesty to the children of undocumented immigrants, and to withdraw the u.s. from global climate change accords. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s just devastating to think about,<u+201d> one high-level democratic bundler said early wednesday morning. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s really scary, actually.<u+201d> his first attempt to unite the country behind him, the gracious speech he delivered here wednesday morning, will not paper over a long campaign in which he delegitimized the media en masse in what turned out to be a successful attempt to inoculate himself from a tsunami of stories detailing his unseemly past; in which his supporters attacked jews with death threats laden with holocaust imagery; in which american muslims and hispanics felt the heat of revived hostilities and hatred. trump<u+2019>s election is a disappointing final chapter to obama<u+2019>s historic presidency, although history will be the final judge. at the moment, there is no ignoring the obvious: that a movement of recalcitrant, economically depressed whites, rallying behind a candidate who won the backing of white supremacists and the ku klux klan, exacted political revenge<u+2014>vowing to <u+201c>make america great again<u+201d><u+2014>following an eight-year presidency that saw an african-american in the white house and historic civil rights gains for the lgbt community. early wednesday morning, david duke tweeted that trump owes his victory to <u+201c>the south<u+201d> alongside an image of whites waving confederate flags. it is also, of course, a reaction to the government<u+2019>s bailout of many of the banks that survived when so many americans lost their homes and a broader economic anxiety that ran through the rust belt and seemingly beyond it. <u+201c>trump<u+2019>s victory is a direct result of a tsunami of economic and cultural globalism that has flooded the shores of america over the last 25 years,<u+201d> said bruce haynes, a gop strategist in washington. <u+201c>the overwhelming pace of this change has upended both the country and the relationship that working-class voters have with both political parties. tonight that movement shifted the tectonic plates of american politics and both parties will be rebuilding from this electoral earthquake for years.<u+201d> matt nussbaum contributed to this report. by thomas wright by bill scher by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
can trump actually govern? - politico
eli stokols shane goldmacher ben schreckinger kenneth p. vogel alex isenstadt jack shafer