The first presidential transition of Donald Trump began when he won the presidential election on November 8, 2016, and became the president-elect. Trump had become president-elect once the election results became clear on November 9, 2016, the day after the election. Trump was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 19, 2016. The results were certified by a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2017, and the transition concluded when Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017.
Transition procedures
In accordance with the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010, candidate transition teams are provided office space by the General Services Administration (GSA). Transition teams are also eligible for government funding for staff; spending on Mitt Romney's transition team in 2012 was $8.9 million (~$ in ), all funds appropriated by the U.S. government.
Under existing federal law and custom, a nominee becomes eligible to receive classified national security briefings once their nomination is formalized at their party's national convention.
Responsibilities Key responsibilities of a presidential transition include the identification and vetting of candidates for approximately 4,000 non-civil service positions in the U.S. government whose service is at the pleasure of the president; arranging the occupancy of executive residences including the White House, One Observatory Circle, and Camp David; liaising with the United States Strategic Command for receipt of the Gold Codes; and briefing senior civil service personnel about a new administration's policy priorities.
Recent developments A law enacted by the United States Congress in 2016 amending the Presidential Transition Act requires the incumbent president to establish "transition councils" by June of an election year to facilitate the eventual handover of power.
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), meanwhile, launched a new program called "Transition 2016" in 2016. Led by Ed DeSeve and David S. C. Chu, the program was described by NAPA as one which provides management and procedural advice to the leading candidates in establishing transition teams.
Timeline Pre-election In April 2016, representatives from the Trump campaign, as well as the campaigns of four other then-running Republican candidates, met in New York with representatives of the Partnership for Public Service to receive a two-day briefing and overview of the transition process. According to Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, the campaign shortly thereafter began implementing the recommendations provided at the meeting. In early May 2016, after Trump became the presumptive nominee, campaign officials announced they would name the members of a presidential transition team within the "upcoming weeks". On May 6, The New York Times reported that Trump had asked Jared Kushner to begin work on putting a transition team together. Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort worked with Kushner in the selection of a transition chief. Three days later, Trump announced that New Jersey Governor (and former rival presidential candidate) Chris Christie had agreed to head the effort.
On Friday, June 3, 2016, the Agency Transition Directors Council first assembled at the White House to review transition plans of each of the major executive departments; neither the Trump nor Clinton campaigns sent representatives to this initial meeting. At about the same time, the White House began transferring its preceding eight years of accumulated electronic files to the National Archives and Records Administration's Electronic Record Archive for preservation.
The transition planning came under heavy criticism for lagging behind other recent transition planning efforts when it was shown to have hired only a "handful" of staff by late July. At that time, Chris Christie named Bill Palatucci, a corporate attorney from New Jersey and the state's Republican National Committeeman, as general counsel; Palatucci reportedly began meeting with senior members of Mitt Romney's 2012 transition team shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, on July 29, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough led a conference call with Chris Christie to discuss transition procedures. During the call, McDonough informed Christie that Anita Breckenridge and Andrew Mayock will be the administration's primary "points of contact" with the Trump campaign moving forward. The pair also discussed the planned availability of office space at 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue for the Trump transition team, which the General Services Administration was to make available beginning August 2, 2016.
During the first week of August, the Trump transition office was officially opened. The same month, William F. Hagerty, a former member of Mitt Romney's transition team, was named director of appointments while John Rader, a senior aide to United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Bob Corker, was retained in the position of deputy director of appointments.
In an example of "how removed the transition process is from the tumult and rancor of the campaign", representatives of the Trump and Clinton transition teams began holding a series of meetings with each other, and with White House officials, to plan details of the transition process.
By October, it was reported the transition team had grown to more than 100 staff, many of whom were policy experts brought aboard to compensate for a dearth of policy staff employed by the Trump campaign. For example, in October 2016, Robert Smith Walker, former chairman of the House Science Committee, was appointed space policy advisor.
Immediate post-election In the early hours of November 9, 2016, media outlets reported Trump would secure enough votes in the Electoral College to win the presidential election. Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton conceded the election to him later that day.
Security enhancements Prior to Trump's return to his private residence at Trump Tower, the United States Secret Service initiated "unbelievable security measures", including closing East 56th Street to all traffic, reinforcing a cordon of sand-laden dump trucks that had been placed around the building the night before to defend the site from being rammed with a car bomb, and deploying New York City Police Department tactical teams around the skyscraper. The FAA, meanwhile, ordered a flight restriction over midtown Manhattan.
Trump business interests
Following his victory at the election, Trump began transferring control of the Trump Organization to the company's other executives, including his three oldest children; Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump in a blind trust. According to a November 11 statement from the Trump Organization, it was "in the process of vetting various structures with the goal of the immediate transfer of management of the Trump Organization and its portfolio of businesses".
At a press conference on January 11, 2017, Trump said he and his eldest daughter Ivanka would resign all management roles with the Trump Organization by inauguration day, January 20. Its assets would be put into a trust run by his two oldest sons Donald Jr. and Eric, together with existing chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. Trump would continue to own the business. At the press conference, Trump attorney Sheri Dillon made a substantial presentation on the legal structure that was being put in place for the Trump Organization during the presidency. "No new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during the duration of President Trump's presidency," Dillon said, and new domestic deals "will go through a vigorous vetting process" and President Trump will have no role in them, among other assertions.McCaskill, Nolan D., "Highlights from Trump's press conference" , Politico, January 11, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
Beginning of transition process
Shortly after noon on November 9, outgoing president Barack Obama made a statement from the Rose Garden of the White House, in which he announced that he had spoken, the previous evening, with Trump and formally invited him to the White House the next day, November 10, for discussions to ensure "that there is a successful transition between our presidencies". President Obama said he had instructed his staff to "follow the example" of the George W. Bush administration in 2008, who he said could "not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition".
The same day, United States secretary of defense Ash Carter issued a memo to the United States armed forces informing them of the pending transfer of National Command Authority to a new administration. Also on November 9, the U.S. Intelligence Community offered the full President's Daily Brief to Trump and Mike Pence, with Trump receiving his first brief on November 15 in his office at Trump Tower.
By the afternoon of November 9, a transition website – greatagain.gov – had been launched. The website provided information on transition procedures and information for the media. The website was later criticized for reposting content originally created by the Partnership for Public Service, however, Partnership CEO Max Stier declined to criticize the use and noted that the organization had been working with the major campaigns on transition planning, explaining that he hoped the group's materials would be "a resource that is used for the betterment of transitions". Content on the transition website was licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
At 11:00a.m. on November 10, the president and president-elect held a private, 90-minute meeting at the White House, which was followed by a joint media availability in the Oval Office with a press pool composed of journalists from Reuters, Voice of America, Bloomberg, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, ABC News, and McClatchey syndicate. During the availability, Trump thanked Obama for their meeting and said he looked forward to tapping him for future counsel, although this did not eventuate. According to Trump, Obama convinced him, during their discussion, to retain certain aspects of his signature policy Obamacare, including the ban on insurance companies denying new coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and the right of parents to keep their adult children on their health insurance policies until the age of 25. During the same day, First Lady Michelle Obama had tea with incoming First Lady Melania Trump and also gave her a tour of the White House residence.
November 11 reshuffle The transition was formerly led by Chris Christie until he and a number of his supporters were replaced or demoted on November 11 when Trump telephoned and told him his involvement with the Bridgegate scandal was a political liability and his performance heading the transition unsatisfactory (Trump, later, also expressed private frustration at Christie's retention of lobbyists in key transition posts). At the end of the call, Trump fired Christie from his position as transition chair. Over the next twenty-four hours, and with little warning, Christie loyalists were quickly removed from the transition team in what was characterized by NBC News as a "Stalinesque purge". Transition executive Richard Bagger, for instance, found himself suddenly locked-out of the transition team's offices. Bill Palatucci, Mike Rogers, and others, were also among those removed.