NEW YORK: Donald Trump may take a victory tour to states that elected him president, an aide said Saturday, as boisterous protests unfolded outside the tower where he holed up with members of his transition team and fielded calls congratulating him.
While he’s announced one decision — putting Vice President-elect Mike Pence in charge of the transition instead of Chris Christie — Trump must identify other people for top White House jobs and Cabinet posts. The president-elect remained out of sight at Trump Tower, with streets outside swarming with thousands objecting to Election Day results.
At one point, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, a liberal critic of Trump who nevertheless had predicted his victory, entered the tower lobby with a camera crew and asked to see Trump. “I just thought I’d see if I could get into Trump Tower and ride the famous escalator,” said Moore, who did just that until he reached the fourth floor and the Secret Service told him he could go no higher.
Kellyanne Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager and is almost surely in line for a job in his presidency, told reporters in the tower lobby that Trump’s choice of a chief of staff was “imminent,” though not coming Saturday. Whoever fills that post will set the tone for Trump’s White House and be a main conduit to Capitol Hill and Cabinet agencies.
Among those being considered is Stephen Bannon, who took a leave as chairman of conservative Breitbart News to serve as Trump’s campaign chief executive officer.
Bannon is a controversial figure even among Republicans, seen as encouraging Trump’s more eye-opening stunts such as his news conference with women who accused former President Bill Clinton of making sexual advances. He also fanned some of Trump’s incendiary rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and blacks. But he has no experience in governing or keeping on track an organization as large as the executive branch.
Another person being considered was the far more buttoned-down Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, an establishment figure who has close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders, having helped to run the party for almost six years.
Conway said Trump’s next public appearance was expected “in the next couple of days.” When asked if he’d take a victory tour soon, she said: “It’s possible. It’s possible. We’re working on the schedule.”
She described his day as “meetings, phone calls, conversations, interviews. What you would expect from a normal presidential transition.”
In one gesture of normalcy, Trump pledged to be “very restrained” in the White House with his use of Twitter, “if I use it at all.” But he did not sound convinced that he could leave it behind, when asked in a 60 Minutes interview to be broadcast Sunday. Some of Trump’s most inflammatory comments, in a campaign loaded with provocation, came in his late-night tweets.
“I have a method of fighting back,” Trump said of social media. He said Twitter is “tremendous” and helped him win races in states where he was vastly outspent. He said he thinks he’s proved that social media can be more powerful than money.
Moments after Moore’s uninvited visit to Trump Tower, Nigel Farage, head of the “Leave” movement that won Britain’s vote to exit the European Union, also arrived.
“It was a great honor to spend time with Donald Trump,” Farage said of his hourlong meeting with Trump, according to a statement from his UK Independence Party. “He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I’m confident he will be a good president. ... This is a man with whom we can do business.”
Picking up steam
Meanwhile, tens of thousands took to the streets Saturday across the United States as demonstrations against Trump continued in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and beyond.
Protesters rallied at New York’s Union Square before picking up steam and taking their cause toward Trump Tower.
“I just can’t have Donald Trump running this country and teaching our children racism, sexism and bigotry,” said Noemi Abad, 30, a fashion designer.
“Out of his own mouth he made this division. He needs to go — there’s no place for racism in society in America.”
In Los Angeles, Beatriz Devara said her 11-year-old granddaughter lives in Oregon, where classmates have been asking her when she’s “going back.”
“She’s third-generation,” said Devara, a teacher in Palmdale, Calif., who was marching toward downtown.
Protests were mainly peaceful, but in Portland, Ore., a man who was participating in a march was shot after a confrontation with someone in a vehicle. Police expect the man to survive and detained four people in connection with the shooting.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.