The President-elect lays the groundwork for his January move into the Oval Office. But he’s quickly learning that politicians campaign, Presidents govern. Inside the chaotic first days of Donald J. Trump’s transition to power, it’s clear that he faces a steep learning curve
Donald Trump spent the hours after he won the White House perched in his 26th-floor office as a long line of well-wishers cycled through with grand ideas about his government. The President-elect contemplated his visit to the White House the next day to set in motion one of the most unexpected transitions of power America has seen in its history. But first: something special. As he gazed out on Central Park, Trump mused about a weekend victory tour to places that delivered his surprise win, sending aides scurrying to prepare. Trump had fed off the energy of his audiences for the 17-month campaign, and he wanted one final fix. He was a winner, and winners are rewarded.
Trump’s aides, who themselves were just coming to grips with the enormity of the task they faced, nearly all implored their boss to focus on the decidedly unsexy task of putting together a government instead. In the end Trump agreed, and in the process perhaps revealed the most important lesson of his first week as leader-of the-free-world-in-waiting: only when he faces a united front will he reverse one of his decisions. It was an all-voices-on-deck moment for the Trump-whispering group of advisers known as the Foxhole amongst themselves, and as the Avengers to the outsiders.
If the week after Election Day is designed to be a pageant of peaceful transition, it is also a period for the brutal consolidation of power. The winners decide who from the campaign stays and who goes, while losers lick their wounds and look for answers. In the aftermath of Election 2016, those dramas played out for the American public like never before, plus a close look at the 45th President as he started working out both in private and in public what sort of leader he would become.
This story is from the November 28 - December 5,2016 edition of Time.
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This story is from the November 28 - December 5,2016 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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