Trump Names Picks For National Security Adviser, Attorney General, CIA Director

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Updated at 11:45 a.m. ET

President-elect Donald Trump announced his selections today for three key posts: Michael Flynn for national security adviser, Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Rep. Mike Pompeo for CIA director.

Trump's selections signal that he is prioritizing loyalty as he chooses nominees for top posts — turning to people who were early and outspoken supporters of his campaign.

Sessions is a former U.S. attorney and current senator with lengthy experience with the Justice Department, but whose nomination for a federal judgeship was tanked by reports of racist comments. Flynn, a former lieutenant general, was pushed out of his role as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 after clashing with top staffers. Pompeo is a representative who served both on the House Intelligence Committee and on the Benghazi committee.

The attorney general and CIA director nominees will need to be confirmed by the Senate. The national security adviser does not need Senate confirmation.

Sen. Jeff Sessions

The 69-year-old Republican senator, who has been offered the position of attorney general, was one of the first lawmakers to ally himself with the Trump campaign. He embraces a forceful anti-immigration platform and a tough approach to fighting crime.

Sessions "is a world-class legal mind and considered a truly great Attorney General and U.S. Attorney in the state of Alabama," Trump said in a statement from his transition team.

"I am humbled to have been asked by President-elect Trump to serve as Attorney General of the United States," Sessions said. "My previous 15 years working in the Department of Justice were extraordinarily fulfilling. I love the Department, its people and its mission. I can think of no greater honor than to lead them."

Sessions is a former longtime U.S. attorney in Alabama who went on to serve as the top Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees Justice Department and FBI operations.

But earlier in his career, that same committee denied him a position as a lifetime-tenured federal judge after lawyers testified he had used racially insensitive language. Sessions apologized for saying he thought the KKK was OK "until I found out they smoked pot," describing the episode as a joke.

His positions on social issues including same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and funding for stem-cell research are conservative.

As NPR's Ailsa Chang reported earlier this year, Sessions had a controversial career as a prosecutor and allegations of racism have followed him for decades. He first rose to national attention when he prosecuted three black civil rights workers for voter fraud; a defense lawyer called it "voter persecution," and the jury returned no convictions.

The president of the NAACP called Sessions' appointment "troubling," while a legislative counsel at the ACLU called him "the senator with probably the most anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-child record in the Senate."

Former Alabama Rep. Jo Bonner, a Republican from Sessions' hometown of Mobile, said President-elect Trump "has supreme confidence in Sen. Sessions' judgment, his wisdom, his character and his loyalty."

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee that will review Sessions' nomination, said in a statement:

"Senator Sessions has served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for many years so he's well aware of the thorough vetting he's about to receive. And while many of us have worked with Senator Sessions closely and know him to be a staunch advocate for his beliefs, the process will remain the same: a fair and complete review of the nominee. While Senator Sessions and I differ on a great many issues, I am committed to a full and fair process."

The current attorney general is Loretta Lynch, the first black woman in that position (as a child, she attended civil rights rallies in the South with her parents) and the former U.S. attorney for the eastern district of New York.

Michael Flynn

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The brazen retired Army lieutenant general, who was also an early supporter of Trump, has been offered the position of national security adviser.

"General Flynn is one of the country's foremost experts on military and intelligence matters and he will be an invaluable asset to me and my administration," Trump said in the transition team statement.

Flynn said he was "deeply humbled and honored to accept the position as National Security Advisor to serve both our country and our nation's next President, Donald J. Trump."

Flynn has a track record of sharp elbows inside the U.S. intelligence community, as NPR's Tom Bowman wrote Friday. He was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's military-focused spy service, after pushing to send more operatives overseas and clashing with top staffers and his ultimate bosses in the White House:

"Within military circles, Flynn was a highly respected — though at times controversial — career intelligence officer. He worked his way up the ranks, including stints as the top intelligence officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Gen. Stanley McChrystal's top aide in Afghanistan. ... "Flynn, by then a three-star general, went on to run the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's military-centered spy service. But the workforce there complained he was trying to push through too many changes, including sending more employees overseas. "Flynn argued that he was trying to get the bureaucracy to be more efficient, to do more. Critics said he couldn't run a large bureaucracy. He was forced out in 2014 after less than two years in the job."

Flynn's return to government in a top administration post could enable him to settle any outstanding scores within the intelligence world, depending on the support he receives from the president and the way Trump structures decision-making inside his national security apparatus.

During the Republican National Convention this summer, he joined in the chants of "Lock her up," in reference to Hillary Clinton. "It was a strange position for someone who was a career military officer and a registered Democrat from Rhode Island," Tom says.

Flynn, who recently wrote a book called The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies, has called President Obama "a liar" and has troubled some former colleagues with his partisan political work, Tom reports.

The current national security adviser is Susan Rice, the former U.N. ambassador who was sharply criticized by congressional Republicans for making what she later acknowledged were "incorrect" statements after the Benghazi attack.

Trump's national security picks, including the choice of Flynn, illustrate the choices his administration will face as it translate the promises and rhetoric of the campaign into governance.

For example, Flynn told NPR in August that he thought it would be impractical to impose a blanket ban on travel by Muslims from around the world to the United States. A full stop on such arrivals — which Trump later revised to a call for "extreme vetting" for those entering the U.S. — was one of Trump's signature campaign promises. As president and national security adviser, however, Trump and Flynn must decide how much of either idea they take into the new administration and try to make into reality.

Another critical issue is the U.S. relationship with Russia. Candidate Trump repeated that he wanted better ties with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, and for the two countries to work together in Syria to fight the Islamic State. (President Obama pursued such a deal but could not conclude one with Moscow.) Flynn's situation is even more nuanced. He's called Russia "an enemy" of the U.S. in his public comments and suggested in a book this year that it's part of a global axis arrayed against the United States. But Flynn also traveled to Moscow last year as a guest of Putin for a banquet celebrating the Russian state news agency RT, part of the Kremlin's propaganda operation targeting the West.

RT quoted a description of Flynn as a 'Russia-loving' appointment in its headline on Friday.

Rep. Mike Pompeo

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Pompeo, a third-term Republican congressman from Kansas, has been offered the post of CIA director.

"I am honored to have been given this opportunity to serve and to work alongside President-elect Donald J. Trump to keep America safe. I also look forward to working with America's intelligence warriors, who do so much to protect Americans each and every day," Pompeo said.

According to his congressional biography, he graduated from West Point and served as a cavalry officer. He attended Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, before entering business as an executive in aerospace manufacturing and the oil industry.

Politics Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo Weighs In On House Benghazi Committee Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo Weighs In On House Benghazi Committee Listen · 6:06 6:06

He served on the Energy and Commerce committee as well as the House Intelligence Committee, and was a member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

The current CIA director is John Brennan, who joined the CIA in 1980 and was a station chief in Saudi Arabia and the chief of the national counterterrorism center.

Like Flynn, Pompeo — if confirmed as CIA director — would face decisions about how much of Trump's campaign rhetoric to attempt to implement as policy.

Pompeo has been as critical as Trump of the Iran nuclear deal, for example — would the two work together to dismantle it, or focus on other ways to try to punish Tehran? </s> Washington (CNN) Donald Trump's transition is being marked by sharp internal disagreements over key cabinet appointments and direction, both for internal West Wing positions and key national security posts, sources involved in the transition team tell CNN.

One source with knowledge of the transition described it as a "knife fight."

The split has put traditional Republican operatives such as Reince Priebus -- named Trump's chief of staff Sunday -- against more non-traditional influences such as Steve Bannon -- the alt-right leader of Breitbart News -- who will be Trump's chief strategist. A particular challenge is lack of clarity about the division of power among Priebus, Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who also has a key role in transition decisions. Another source tied to the transition described resulting the confusion as "buffoonery."

The divisions are being played out as Trump considers key appointments in the national security and diplomatic sectors, including secretary of state, with mainstream conservatives supporting John Bolton against Rudy Giuliani, who is seen as a loyalist to Trump.

On other key national security appointments, there is more agreement. Senator Jeff Sessions is the leading contender for secretary of defense, say multiple sources with knowledge of the transition. Retired Lt. General Ron Burgess, former director of the DIA, is a leading contender for director of national intelligence. Retired General Michael Flynn is leading candidate for national security adviser.

No matter who gets what job, one description seems to fit the makeup of the short list: unconventional. And it highlights the dilemma faced by Trump, who is now torn between a campaign promise to shake up Washington and a need to build a national security team with policy experience.

The presence of so many political backers could signal that Trump values loyalty over experience and is keen to have people on board who share his worldview and are willing to depart from conventional wisdom.

This is particularly true when it comes to the secretary of state post. The position of America's chief diplomat is considered a particularly high-profile one, charged with maintaining relationships around the globe.

But some of the names being rumored for the job seem to indicate that Trump will favor an iconoclastic approach to the role:

Bolton, a diplomat in the George W. Bush administration, backed Trump soon after he secured the nomination and would be one of the more conventional choices.

But despite spending years at the State Department, Bolton has at times rankled feathers in Washington. He was appointed to be ambassador to the UN, a cabinet level position, in 2005. But his nomination was met with fierce opposition in Congress and Bush was forced to appoint him during a congressional recess.

A source familiar with the transition said the Trump team acknowledges that Bolton's confirmation might be difficult but they think it would be less tough than it was 10 years ago.

He also has elements of the conservative mainstream in his corner; he was endorsed by the influential National Review magazine in an open letter to President-elect Trump over the weekend.

Bolton has consistently advocated for unilateral and interventionist approaches to foreign policy challenges.

Like Trump he has opposed the Iran nuclear deal going so far as to call for airstrikes against Iran, penning a 2015 op-ed in the New York Times titled "To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran."

He has also been highly critical of international institutions and organizations like the UN, something that tracks closely with Trump's professed "America first" and anti-"globalist" approach to foreign policy. In that vein Bolton led efforts to withdraw America's signature from the International Criminal Court.

But Bolton has also been a harsh critic of Russia -- a stance that might put him at odds with any effort to improve ties with Moscow, something Trump has stated as an objective of his administration.

Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and mayor of New York, has little foreign policy experience to speak of but has been a vocal advocate of Trump's since early on in the campaign.

During his own run for the presidency in 2008, Giuliani espoused a fairly conventional Republican foreign policy view, calling on continued US engagement abroad and robust efforts to fight terrorism and stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also signaled support for democracy promotion, something at odds with Trump's pronouncements where he has put value on stability and counter-terrorism as opposed to democracy and human rights.

A source familiar with the transition process told CNN that Giuliani has expressed his preference for the secretary of state position as opposed to the post of attorney general.

On the defense side, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has emerged as a possible choice for national security adviser. Former military officers have found themselves in the role before, Barack Obama's first national security agency was former Gen. James Jones and Colin Powell served as the National Security Adviser to President Ronald Reagan.

Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is well versed in international and security affairs.

But Flynn, a vocal and sometimes fiery advocate for the president-elect during the campaign, has also echoed Trump's rhetoric of fighting terrorism, boosting ties with Russia, and casting a more critical eye on NATO.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, possible secretary of defense or attorney general

According to one source familiar with transition, the job of Defense Secretary is Sessions' if he wants it. Trump is also interested in the senator for attorney general, CNN's Dana Bash reports.

Sessions would also be a more conventional choice having represented Alabama in the Senate since 1997. He sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and also served in the US Army Reserve from 1973-1986.

Sessions also meets the loyalty test having been the first sitting senator to endorse Trump during the campaign.

But Sessions is not a typical Washington insider, at times taking positions at odds with his colleagues on the Armed Services committee.

While Sessions has called for a defense spending boost, many of his other positions, such as a skeptical view of NATO and friendlier view of Russia, while at odds with his Republican senatorial colleagues brought him more into line with Trump's campaign comments.

Sessions shares Trump's hardline positions on immigration as well and is also under consideration for Attorney General.

Why there are so few conventional choices

A few more establishment type names are being floated for roles that oversee the intelligence community.

Burgess, the former DIA director, is also thought to be a potential selection for the director of national intelligence, which oversees the sprawling intelligence community.

And Pete Hoekstra, a long-serving former congressman from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee from 2004-2007 is thought to be in the running for the same role or director of the CIA.

While more conventional picks had initially been rumored for State and Defense such as the head of the Council of Foreign Relations, Richard Haas, and George W. Bush's National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, most analysts are beginning to believe that the odds favor a more conventional choice.

One of the reasons for the non-traditional short-list is that many of the Republican Party's most senior national security experts denounced their presidential candidate during the campaign as too reckless to lead the nation safely, somewhat limiting the pool from which to draw.

But some foreign policy luminaries have suggested that Republican experts should put aside their differences and Brent Scowcroft, George H.W. Bush's national security adviser national security adviser and who backed Hillary Clinton for president, told attendees as a ceremony at the Aspen Strategy Group Monday that "If you're asked to serve, please do. This man needs help." </s> Rex Tillerson, Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway: These are just a few of the people filling major roles in President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Trump has also selected a number of New Yorkers, including Vincent Viola and Carl Icahn.

But some Cabinet and other West Wing positions remain unfilled. He has yet to name a director of national intelligence, secretary of agriculture, secretary of veterans affairs and trade representative.

Trump must choose all his Cabinet members and appointments by his Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration and he will eventually need to fill about 4,000 positions in the government.

Here's a look at the people he has selected so far.

Trump's transition team announced that Sean Spicer (pictured left), RNC communications director, has been named press secretary and assistant to the president. In the same statement, the transition team revealed that Trump's campaign press secretary, Hope Hicks (pictured right), had been named assistant to the president and director of strategic communications. Also named to the press team were Jason Miller as assistant to the president and director of communications and Dan Scavino as assistant to the president and director of social media. "Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition," Trump said in a statement. "I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again." (Credit: Getty Images composite) Trump's transition team announced that Sean Spicer (pictured left), RNC communications director, has been named press secretary and assistant to the president. In the same statement, the transition team revealed that Trump's campaign press secretary, Hope Hicks (pictured right), had been named assistant to the president and director of strategic communications. Also named to the press team were Jason Miller as assistant to the president and director of communications and Dan Scavino as assistant to the president and director of social media. "Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition," Trump said in a statement. "I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again." (Credit: Getty Images composite)

Trump has chosen former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as his nominee for energy secretary, the transition team said Dec. 14, 2016. The selection of Perry, who is from a leading oil-producing state, is further indication that the Trump administration may be friendly toward the fossil fuel industry. Perry proposed eliminating the Energy Department, which is responsible for the country's energy policies and oversees the nuclear weapons program, during his unsuccessful bid for president in 2011. He was also among Trump's Republican rivals in the 2016 presidential race, during which he called Trump "a cancer on conservatism." During a debate, Trump took aim at Perry's appearance, saying, "He put on glasses so people will think he's smart." (Credit: AFP / Getty Images / Kena Betancur) Trump has chosen former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as his nominee for energy secretary, the transition team said Dec. 14, 2016. The selection of Perry, who is from a leading oil-producing state, is further indication that the Trump administration may be friendly toward the fossil fuel industry. Perry proposed eliminating the Energy Department, which is responsible for the country's energy policies and oversees the nuclear weapons program, during his unsuccessful bid for president in 2011. He was also among Trump's Republican rivals in the 2016 presidential race, during which he called Trump "a cancer on conservatism." During a debate, Trump took aim at Perry's appearance, saying, "He put on glasses so people will think he's smart." (Credit: AFP / Getty Images / Kena Betancur)

Nikki Haley: U.S. ambassador to the United Nations South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was selected to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She has been the governor of South Carolina since 2011, but has little international experience. Haley had previously supported Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in the Republican primaries, and she criticized Trump for his harsh rhetoric about immigration and for not speaking forcefully enough against white supremacists. In the rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address in January, Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, appeared to allude to Trump. "During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices," she said. "We must resist that temptation." (Credit: Getty Images / Jim Watson) South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was selected to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She has been the governor of South Carolina since 2011, but has little international experience. Haley had previously supported Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in the Republican primaries, and she criticized Trump for his harsh rhetoric about immigration and for not speaking forcefully enough against white supremacists. In the rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address in January, Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, appeared to allude to Trump. "During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices," she said. "We must resist that temptation." (Credit: Getty Images / Jim Watson) </s> NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has picked Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, signaling a sharp rightward shift in U.S. security policy as he begins to form his Cabinet.

Trump on Friday also named retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. A former military intelligence chief, Flynn has accused the Obama administration of being too soft on terrorism and has cast Islam as a “political ideology” and driver of extremism.

The selections form the first outlines of Trump’s Cabinet and national security teams. Given his lack of governing experience and vague policy proposals during the campaign, his selection of advisers is being scrutinized both in the U.S. and abroad.

Trump’s initial decisions suggest a more aggressive military involvement in counterterror strategy and a greater emphasis on Islam’s role in stoking extremism. Sessions, who is best known for his hard-line immigration views, has questioned whether terror suspects should benefit from the rights available in U.S. courts. Pompeo has said Muslim leaders are “potentially complicit” in attacks if they do not denounce violence carried out in the name of Islam.

Pompeo’s nomination to lead the CIA also opens the prospect of the U.S. resuming torture of detainees. Trump has backed harsh interrogation techniques that President Barack Obama and Congress have banned, saying the U.S. “should go tougher than waterboarding,” which simulates drowning. In 2014, Pompeo criticized Obama for “ending our interrogation program” and said intelligence officials “are not torturers, they are patriots.”

Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Flynn would not.

In a separate matter Friday, it was announced that Trump had agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve three lawsuits over Trump University, his former school for real estate investors. The lawsuits alleged the school misled students and failed to deliver on its promises in programs that cost up to $35,000.

Trump has denied the allegations and has said repeatedly he would not settle. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who announced the settlement, called it “a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university.”

Messages seeking comment from Trump attorneys and a spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

On Friday night, Vice President-elect Mike Pence became the latest celebrity to attend the Broadway hit show “Hamilton” — but he was the first to get a direct message from a cast member from the stage.

Actor Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr, the nation’s third vice president, recited a message from the stage for his political descendant after the curtain call: “We, sir, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,” he said. “We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values, and work on behalf of all of us.”

Pence’s appearance at the show drew both cheers and boos. Pence ducked out before Dixon finished the unprecedented message. But a show spokesman said Pence stood in the hallway outside the entrance to the auditorium and heard the full remarks.

The president-elect did not announce his Cabinet choices in person, instead releasing a statement. He has made no public appearances this week, holing up in his New York skyscraper for meetings. He is spending the weekend at his New Jersey golf club.

Trump is still weighing a range of candidates for other leading national security posts. Possibilities for secretary of state are said to include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who met with Trump Thursday.

On Saturday, Trump was to meet with retired Gen. James Mattis, a contender to lead the Pentagon. He was also meeting with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who lambasted Trump as a “con man” and a “fraud” in a stinging speech in March. Trump responded by repeatedly referring to Romney as a “loser.”

Members of minority groups have voiced alarm at Trump’s staff appointments so far, saying his choices threaten national unity and promise to turn back the clock on progress for racial, religious and sexual minorities. They say comments attributed to Trump’s picks could embolden some Americans to lash out at members of minority groups

Most of Trump’s nominees are expected to be confirmed relatively easily given the GOP majority in the Senate. However, potential roadblocks exist, particularly for Sessions, the first senator to endorse Trump and one of the chamber’s most conservative members.

His last Senate confirmation hearing, in 1986 for a federal judgeship, was derailed over allegations that he made racist comments, including calling a black assistant U.S. attorney “boy” in conversation. Sessions denied the accusation, but withdrew from consideration.

Republicans were supportive on Friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called his Senate colleague “principled, forthright, and hardworking.”

Pace reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mark Kennedy, Errin Whack, Catherine Lucey, Jill Colvin, Stephen Braun, Robert Burns and Jack Gillum and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Jonathan Lemire at http://twitter.com/JonLemire </s> NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump is announcing his choices for three key administration jobs Friday, naming Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA and former military intelligence chief Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.

All three have been fierce critics of President Barack Obama and current U.S. policy. In tapping Sessions and Flynn, Trump is also rewarding a pair of loyalists who were among his most ardent supporters during the presidential campaign.

Trump planned to announce the picks Friday, according to a senior transition official. The official insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the decisions ahead of Trump's announcement.

Trump is a foreign policy novice and his early moves on national security are being closely watched both in the U.S. and overseas. Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Flynn would not.

Even with Republicans in control of the Senate, Sessions could face obstacles. He withdrew from consideration for a federal judgeship in 1986 after being accused of making racist comments while serving as a U.S. attorney in Alabama.

Sessions, the first senator to endorse Trump, has been a leading proponent of tough immigration enforcement policies. He's tangled with the past two Democratic-appointed attorneys general on whether terrorism suspects deserve the protections of American civilian courts and on the planned closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He's also been protective of the attorney general's right to refuse a legally unsound directive from the president.

Flynn was a critic of Obama's military and foreign policy long before he began advising Trump on national security issues during the presidential campaign. As national security adviser, Flynn would work in the West Wing and have frequent access to the new president.

The 57-year-old built a reputation as an astute intelligence professional and straight talker when he became the director of the Intelligence Agency in 2012. After retiring two years later, he made clear he took issue with the Obama administration's approach to global affairs and fighting Islamic State militants.

Flynn has called for Washington to work more closely with Moscow, echoing similar statements from Trump. But his warmth toward Russia has worried some national security experts, particularly after he to Moscow last year to join Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for RT, a television channel funded by the Russian government. Flynn said he had been paid for taking part in the event and brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort.

Trump has made no public appearances this week, but his meetings have a focus on national security. He met Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since winning the election.

In a separate gesture of reconciliation with establishment Republicans, Trump planned to meet with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who lambasted Trump as a "con man" and a "fraud" in a stinging speech in March. Trump responded by repeatedly referring to Romney as a "loser."

The two began mending fences after Trump's victory when Romney called with congratulations. They are to meet this weekend, a transition official says. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says they are still "working on" the meeting.

Since his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton last week, Trump has spoken with Russian President Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May and nearly three dozen other world leaders by telephone.

Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the United States, also visited the Trump Tower and called the billionaire businessman "a true friend of Israel." He specifically cited as another "friend" Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon, whose selection as a top White House adviser has created a backlash among Democrats. Bannon's news has peddled conspiracy theories, white nationalism and anti-Semitism. </s> US president-elect Donald Trump has offered Republican senator Jeff Sessions the job of US attorney general, CBS News and Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer, who is involved in the Trump presidential transition, would not confirm the reports on CNN. “Until Donald Trump says it, it’s not official,” Mr Spicer said.

However, a transition official said that Mr Sessions had accepted Mr Trump’s offer, according to Reuters.

In choosing Mr Sessions as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, Mr Trump would award a loyalist whose hard-line and at times inflammatory statements on immigration were similar to his own. Mr Sessions opposes any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and was an enthusiastic backer of Mr Trump’s promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

Separately, Mr Trump has offered the job of national security adviser to retired general Michael Flynn, a former military intelligence chief who has been a vocal critic of the Obama administration, according to a senior Trump official.

Mr Flynn (57) who served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, has advised Mr Trump on national security issues for months. As national security adviser, he would work in the White House shaping foreign and military policy and have frequent access to a president with no national security experience.

The Trump official, who was not authorised to discuss the offer publicly, would not say whether Mr Flynn had accepted the job.

According to photographs released by the Japanese government, he was however present at a meeting on Thursday in New York between Mr Trump and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, at which the US president-elect’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were also present.

Mr Flynn broke from other national security experts during the US election campaign who denounced Mr Trump, joining the then-candidate at rallies and leading chants against Hillary Clinton , including those that called for her to be locked up.

In a fiery address at the Republican National Convention, Mr Flynn emphasised his view that the threat posed by the Islamic State group required a more aggressive US military, as well as his belief that Washington should work more closely with Moscow.

A retired three-star army general, Mr Flynn ran the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), one of the highest positions a military intelligence officer can attain, between 2012 and 2014. But clashes with top Obama administration officials led to his departure.

James Clapper, the CIA director who announced his resignation on Thursday, played a leading role in Mr Flynn’s departure.

A controversial figure, Mr Flynn has been criticised for regularly appearing on RT, the Russian state-owned television station, and once attended an RT gala, sitting two seats from Russian president Vladimir Putin. He later said his speaker’s bureau had arranged the trip and that he saw no distinction between RT and TV news organisations like CNN.

The post does not require Senate confirmation.

Mr Flynn wrote in his 2016 book, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies, that he was “not a devotee of so-called political correctness”.

In February, the general posted on Twitter, “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.” Then, in July, he retweeted an antisemitic post mocking the Clinton campaign’s blaming of Russian hackers for leaked emails: “CNN implicated. ‘The USSR is to blame!’ Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore.” Mr Flynn later deleted his retweet and apologised, saying it was a mistake; the tweet about Muslims has not been deleted.

The reported pick drew immediate statements of concern, including from Human Rights Watch, which said that it showed “a deeply disturbing disregard for human rights principles and the laws of war”. The rights group noted that “Flynn has repeatedly refused to rule out Trump’s proposed use of torture and other war crimes.”

Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement on Thursday night that he was “deeply concerned about [Flynn’s] views on Russia” because of their “fondness for the autocratic and belligerent Kremlin”. He also pointed to the general’s “inflammatory remarks regarding Islam”, and his “uncritical acceptance of the Turkish crackdown on dissent”.

Mr Schiff also said he thought the best choice for national security adviser would be someone “steady and thoughtful” who could “help offset the potentially impulsive nature of the next president”.

On Thursday, diplomatic sources said that David Petraeus – the former US army general and CIA director who was prosecuted for mishandling classified information – had entered the race to become Donald Trump’s secretary of state.

Gen Petraeus resigned in November 2012 after the FBI discovered he had had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and had shared classified information with her. He eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanoor charge for mishandling the information.

People who have seen him recently say he is anxious to return to public life and has privately refused to rule out serving in a Trump administration.

Gen Petraeus, who was also a US commander in Afghanistan and Iraq, has made flattering remarks about Mr Trump since the election. “He’s right to criticise Washington over its partisanship and its inability to forge compromises,” he told the German cable news channel Deutsche Welle this week. “He’s a dealmaker. Let’s see if he can make some deals in Washington.” </s> President-elect Donald Trump has been deeply impressed with U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, his transition team said on Thursday of the longtime supporter who is under consideration for secretary of defense and attorney general.

"While nothing has been finalized and he is still talking with others as he forms his Cabinet, the president-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabama's Attorney General and U.S. Attorney," the team said in a statement.

Sessions met with Trump on Wednesday in New York. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In another senior staff shake-up inside his often turbulent administration, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he has picked the two people he wants to be the next U.S. attorney general and the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

FILE PHOTO: Spokesperson Heather Nauert (L) speaks as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a dialogue with reporters in his plane while flying from Panama to Mexico, October 18, 2018. Brendan Smialowski/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

He said he will nominate William Barr, who was attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush in the 1990s, to fill that top job again at the U.S. Justice Department.

Barr would replace Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who has been in that position since Trump forced out Jeff Sessions as attorney general a month ago.

Trump said he will put forward State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert, a former Fox News Channel host, would replace Nikki Haley, who said in October she would resign at the end of this year.

Both are likely to face tough questions at their Senate confirmation hearings. Democrats called Nauert unqualified and said they were concerned about Barr’s independence.

Republicans said they were pleased with both nominees.

Trump also said he would make a personnel announcement concerning the Pentagon on Saturday, telling reporters outside the White House, “It will have to do with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the succession.”

Trump was expected to name the Army’s top general, Mark Milley, as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s top military position, U.S. officials told Reuters.

Separately, two sources told Reuters that John Kelly is expected to resign in coming days as White House chief of staff after months of speculation.

The proposed changes come as the Republican president faces another difficult stretch.

Democrats are promising aggressive oversight of Trump’s administration and business activities when they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January following their gains in last month’s elections.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is continuing to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, any collusion between Moscow and Trump’s campaign and possible obstruction of justice. More details of the inquiry were set to emerge in court filings on Friday.

Barr, who was attorney general under Bush from 1991 to 1993 and has worked in the private sector since then, would oversee Mueller’s probe if the Senate confirms him in the job again.

He is likely to face pressure at his confirmation hearings to show he would protect Mueller from political interference. Critics of Trump have long been concerned that the president wants to end the Mueller probe.

Republicans, who control the Senate, said Barr was well qualified. Senator Chuck Grassley called him a “talented, well-respected lawyer.”

“There is no one more capable or qualified for this role,” Trump said at a law-enforcement conference in Kansas City.

Trump, who has repeatedly denounced the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt,” denies any collusion with Russia or any obstruction of justice. Russia denies U.S. intelligence agencies’ findings that it meddled in the 2016 election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor.

‘STEEP HILL TO CLIMB’

Barr also may face scrutiny about past comments questioning the political affiliations of Mueller’s team and supporting Trump’s decision last year to fire FBI Director James Comey.

“Given President Trump’s demonstrated lack of regard for the rule of law and the independence of the American justice system, his nominee for attorney general will have a steep hill to climb in order to be confirmed by the Senate,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney who is currently acting head of the Justice Department, has drawn criticism for past business ventures and critical comments about the Mueller investigation before he joined the department.

Trump mocked and belittled Sessions for more than a year, angry at Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia probe because he had worked for Trump’s election campaign.

If she is confirmed to the U.N. ambassador post, Nauert would bring little diplomatic experience to a highly visible international role.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, praised Nauert as “one of the United States’ strongest voices on the global stage.”

Democrats were less enthusiastic.

“She’s clearly not qualified for this job, but these days it seems that the most important qualification is that you show up on Donald Trump’s TV screen,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on CNN.

Other nations with veto power on the U.N. Security Council are all represented by ambassadors with decades of foreign policy experience.

Nauert would succeed Haley, a former South Carolina governor who also had little experience in world affairs before she took the job. Haley insisted that she be made a member of Trump’s Cabinet and his National Security Council to bolster her power within the administration.

In other staff changes, White House political director Bill Stepien and public liaison director Justin Clark are leaving their jobs to help Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, the campaign said.

Trump’s White House has had the highest turnover of senior-level staff of the past five presidents, according to figures compiled by the Brookings Institution think tank. </s> President-elect Donald Trump and Mitt Romney met Saturday at the billionaire's golf club in New Jersey, putting a year of conflict aside for a smiling handshake - though they did not indicate what, if any, role the 2012 GOP hopeful might play in the new administration.

Trump flashed a thumbs-up and said the sit down "went great." Romney said the two had a "far reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance."

The amiable tone was a marked contrast to a rancorous year, in which Romney attacked Trump as a "con man" and a "phony." But the two have started to mend fences since the Trump's victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Romney was only one of a parade of officials pouring through Trump's door as the president-elect tries to fill more members of his administration. He met Saturday with education activists Michelle Rhee and Betsy DeVos, as well as retired Gen. James Mattis, considered a contender to lead the Pentagon.

Emerging from the white-pillared clubhouse on the rolling green golf course late in the day, Trump said: "we're seeing tremendous talent. People that, like I say, we will 'Make America Great Again.' These are really great people. These are really, really talented people."

Asked about appointments, Trump said: "You'll hear some things tomorrow."

Trump's Sunday schedule in Bedminster includes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

On Friday, Trump picked Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, signaling a sharp rightward shift in U.S. security policy as he begins to form his Cabinet. Trump also named retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.

Trump's announcement on Friday of Sessions, Pompeo and Flynn formed the first outlines of Trump's Cabinet and national security teams. Given his lack of governing experience and vague policy proposals during the campaign, his selection of advisers is being scrutinized both in the U.S. and abroad.

Trump's initial decisions suggest a more aggressive military involvement in counterterror strategy and a greater emphasis on Islam's role in stoking extremism. Sessions, who is best known for his hard line immigration views, has questioned whether terrorist suspects should benefit from the rights available in U.S. courts. Pompeo has said Muslim leaders are "potentially complicit" in attacks if they do not denounce violence carried out in the name of Islam.

Pompeo's nomination to lead the CIA also opens the prospect of the U.S. resuming torture of detainees. Trump has backed harsh interrogation techniques that President Barack Obama and Congress have banned, saying the U.S. "should go tougher than waterboarding," which simulates drowning. In 2014, Pompeo criticized Obama for "ending our interrogation program" and said intelligence officials "are not torturers, they are patriots."

Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation; Flynn would not.

In a separate matter Friday, it was announced that Trump had agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve three lawsuits over Trump University, his former school for real estate investors. The lawsuits alleged the school misled students and failed to deliver on its promises in programs that cost up to $35,000.

Trump has denied the allegations and had said repeatedly he would not settle. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who announced the settlement, called it "a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university."

Trump tweeted to his 15 million followers Saturday that he only settled to better focus on leading the U.S.
Officials serving on President-elect Donald Trump's transition team reveal selections for high-level positions, including Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Mike Pompeo for Director of the CIA and Michael T. Flynn for National Security Advisor.