بازدید 5513
Donald Trump's inner circle: Who are the key figures driving president's policy agenda?
They are the six figures often seen in the background as Donald Trump is photographed carrying out presidential business. Yet they are at the forefront of much of the White House decision-making.
They are the six figures often seen in the background as Donald Trump is photographed carrying out presidential business. Yet they are at the forefront of much of the White House decision-making.
Since taking office, Mr Trump has put his trust in those who helped get him there, placing key campaign aides into position of real power.
He's added a senior political adviser to the National Security Council and appears to have cut out Cabinet secretaries from decision making on some of his top policies, including the immigration and refugee order that led to protests, legal challenges and temporary detention of some legal US residents.
Mr Trump has empowered a small group of advisers, some of whom have no experience in government, to tackle a broad range of issues - including national security, the immigration policy, US relations with Mexico and plans to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law.
The inner circle includes loyal campaign aides, his son-in-law and the advisers who ran Mr Trump's populist, outsider bid for office. Here's a look at the Trump's inner circle and how they're shaping the policies that are shaking up Washington:
Steve Bannon
Every major decision at the new White House has involved Mr Bannon, a media executive who became Mr Trump's top political adviser in a shakeup in August and quickly infused the campaign with an anti-establishment fervour.
"I’m a Leninist,” Mr Bannon told a writer for The Daily Beast, in late 2013. "Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.”*
Now, Mr Bannon is within the establishment, typically at Mr Trump's side in the Oval Office. He helped write the new president's inaugural address - marked by the reference to "American carnage." He shaped executive actions pulling the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and freezing the US refugees programme.
"Steve's the main ideological mover of the administration. He's the chief ideological officer and he has a strong point of view," said Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax and a friend of the president. "I think the bond is their world view."
The memorandum reorganising the National Security Council extended Mr Bannon's reach further. He now has a seat at regular meetings on national security, while the incoming director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will attend only as required by the subject matter.
Mr Bannon is a former naval officer and Goldman Sachs executive who led Breitbart News before joining Mr Trump's campaign. Under his tenure, Breitbart became the voice of the alt-right movement and critics pointed to coverage they said espoused racist and sexist views.
Bannon has cultivated a near-diabolical image in his rare, headline-making interviews.
He recently told The New York Times he sees the media as "the opposition party," and advised the press to "keep its mouth shut" after it underestimated Mr Trump.
"Darkness is good," he told The Hollywood Reporter shortly after Mr Trump's win. "Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power."
Jared Kushner
Considered a "first among equals" in the competing power circles in Trump's West Wing, Kushner often has the last word as his father-in-law makes decision and, as family, has unprecedented access to the president in the White House residence.
Mr Kushner emerged as one of Mr Trump's most powerful campaign advisers during his father-in-law's often unorthodox presidential bid - a calming presence in an otherwise chaotic campaign. He was usually at Mr Trump's side and on his plane during the campaign's final weeks.
At the White House, Mr Kushner has played a key role dealing with foreign government officials and Mr Trump has entrusted him to resolve the dispute with Mexico over the border wall and has indicated that he will take the lead in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Roi Margalit, manager of the Bet El Yeshiva, a seminary complex with around 400 students, said Kushner, an Orthodox Jewish father of three, understood the position of Israeli settlers better than previous envoys.
"At least now we have someone who knows us," the 43-year-old added. "He will now have to study the other side (the Palestinians) and see if there is any common ground."
Asked about Mr Kushner's involvement on foreign policy, a White House official said he was "particularly well-suited for sensitive negotiations and relationship building."
Mr Kushner also championed the pick of his friend Gary Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs, for a top White House economic post.
Reince Priebus
Mr Trump's chief of staff is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and Republican operative from Wisconsin with close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan.
If Mr Bannon has become Mr Trump's policy soul-mate, Mr Priebus appears more focused on organisation and implementation. When Mr Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office, it is often Mr Priebus who hands the president the paperwork.
The longest-serving chairman in Republican Party history, Mr Priebus remains popular among RNC members and will help Mr Trump stay connected with members of Congress, the party's establishment, fundraisers and activists across the nation.
He is in frequent touch with Mr Ryan, one of his oldest political allies, and will serve as a key emissary to House and Senate Republicans.
The chief of staff is a highly influential position, although there is no set format for the role. He is a presidential confidante and adviser seen as the "gatekeeper” - typically overseeing the actions of the White House staff, managing the president's schedule, and deciding who is allowed to meet with him.
The longest-serving chairman in Republican Party history, Mr Priebus remains popular among RNC members and will help Mr Trump stay connected with members of Congress, the party's establishment, fundraisers and activists across the nation.
He is in frequent touch with Mr Ryan, one of his oldest political allies, and will serve as a key emissary to House and Senate Republicans.
The chief of staff is a highly influential position, although there is no set format for the role. He is a presidential confidante and adviser seen as the "gatekeeper” - typically overseeing the actions of the White House staff, managing the president's schedule, and deciding who is allowed to meet with him.
Kellyanne Conway
The veteran Republican pollster served as Mr Trump's final campaign manager, joining the team with Mr Bannon last summer at a crucial time for the insurgent campaign.
Ms Conway's title is counsellor to the president and she has frequently been the face of the new administration, appearing often on Sunday shows and cable television newscasts to promote Mr Trump's message.
After Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, claimed that Mr Trump had the "largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," Ms Conway defended him on NBC's "Meet the Press," arguing that he was giving "alternative facts."
Ms Conway, who also advised Vice President Mike Pence when he was Indiana governor, is using the West Wing office once occupied by former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, who led the former president's outreach to the US business and political community. She is expected to help shape the administration's policies on women and veterans.
Ivanka Trump
As daughter of Mr Trump and wife of Mr Kushner, Ivanka's influence was seen soon after the election when she sat in on Mr Trump's meeting with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe - the then president-elect's first meeting with a foreign leader.
According to the Asahi Shimbun, she urged her father to follow the opinions of Mr Abe, a Japanese government official said, citing the phone conversation between the two leaders after Mr Trump entered office.
During the telephone talks on January 28, Mr Trump mentioned Ivanka's request and her description of the Japanese prime minister as a very clever man, the newspaper reported.
With the first lady Melania Trump planning to stay in New York for at least six months, Ivanka will likely stand in for any hostess duties at the White House.
"We're fascinated because she's beautiful, well-spoken, calm, almost steely, so collected and so opposite to her father. She’s the most prominent woman in this (incoming) administration next to Kellyanne Conway, one of the few women in the Trump orbit," Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, told USA Today.
"Hers is the one phone call her father always takes. She's his top adviser, he respects her judgment and...she softens him a little bit."
Stephen Miller
Mr Trump's policy rollouts and speeches also bear the fingerprints of Mr Miller, a 31-year-old senior policy adviser who joined his campaign after working as a top aide to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, Mr Trump's pick for attorney general.
Mr Miller played an influential, behind-the-scenes role in derailing efforts in the Senate to pursue an immigration overhaul after the 2012 elections. After joining Mr Trump's team, Mr Miller played multiple roles on the campaign, writing Mr Trump's speeches, developing his policies and frequently serving as a warm-up act at rallies.
At the White House, Mr Miller has been the new administration's policy guru with a heavy focus on immigration. He and Mr Bannon were instrumental in the drafting of the executive order that established a temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations. Amid chaos at airports and confusion over the ban's impact on legal US residents, Mr Miller was running Saturday night meetings on the order.
But that has also made him the subject of criticism. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough accused Mr Miller on Monday of not doing enough to loop in agency heads about the executive order. "You've got a very young person in the White House on a power trip thinking that you can just write executive orders and tell all of your Cabinet agencies to go to hell," he said.
The decision to work on the immigration order largely in secret left many Capitol Hill Republicans "pretty pissed about how this went down," one aide who blamed Mr Miller told CNN.
