Trump expected to name more to his team this week
NEW YORK (WTXF/AP) - President-elect Donald Trump's transition team says the incoming president will meet with Vice President-elect Mike Pence in New York Tuesday as he makes decisions on his senior staff and Cabinet.
Pence is overseeing the transition effort and said he is recruiting people with "character and the competence" to implement Trump's vision for the country.
Spokesman Jason Miller told reporters the meeting will take place at Trump Tower to review "a number of names" for the incoming administration.
Miller said, "This is an absolute top priority."
And Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the transition team is working on naming members of the incoming president's staff and Cabinet, and will make additional appointments to his team this week.
Conway also said incoming first lady Melania Trump is interviewing potential aides.
According to a senior Trump official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Rudy Giuliani is the favorite to be secretary of state in Trump's administration.
The official, who's not authorized to speak, said there's no real competition for the job and it's the former New York mayor's if he wants it.
Giuliani said at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event in Washington he won't be attorney general in Trump's administration.
That's a job the former federal prosecutor and top Trump adviser has been seen as a top contender for.
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions met with Trump officials on Monday evening. Miller said Trump "would be lucky to have him in any capacity and vice versa."
Sunday, Trump named Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as chief of staff and campaign adviser Steve Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor.
Trump's team is making plans to fill the vacancy of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The nation's Roman Catholic bishops are urging Trump to adopt humane policies toward immigrants and refugees.
It's also considering Richard Grenell as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, according to a person familiar with transition planning.
If selected, Grenell would be the first openly gay person to hold a Cabinet-level foreign policy post. Grenell served as U.S. spokesman at the U.N. throughout President George W. Bush's administration.
Grenell briefly served as a foreign policy adviser to Republican Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.
The person familiar with the transition planning insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the private deliberations.
Also, Trump's transition team says he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two discussed a "range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia," along with economic issues and the U.S-Russian relationship.
Trump's transition team says that Trump told Putin he looks forward to "a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia."
In a statement issued after the Monday call, Kremlin says that Putin expressed readiness to establish a "partner-like" dialogue with Trump's incoming administration.