WASHINGTON
Donald
Trump on Monday announced the United States would signal its withdrawal
from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal on his first day in
the White House, as one of six immediate steps aimed at "putting
America first."
The Republican
billionaire — who for 10 days has been sounding out cabinet picks at his
Trump Tower offices in New York — made the pledge in a short video
message.
The 70-year-old property
tycoon outlined a list of priorities for his first 100 days and
executive actions to be taken "on day one" — on half a dozen issues from
trade to immigration, national security and ethics — in a push to
"reform Washington and rebuild our middle class."
"My
agenda will be based on a simple core principle: putting America
first," said the president-elect, whose victorious campaign tapped the
anger of working-class Americans who feel left behind by globalization,
singling out trade deals such as the TPP as key culprits.
"On
trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from
the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,"
said Trump, who takes office January 20.
"Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores," he said.
Both
the 12-nation TPP and the North American Free Trade Agreement featured
heavily in the brutal White House race — accused of harming the US
economy and jobs — and many see Trump's victory as a repudiation of
ever-deeper commercial ties.
SIX PRIORITIES
Trump's
populist election platform called for scuttling the TPP — President
Barack Obama's signature trade initiative which still needs approval
from the Republican-dominated Congress — as well as for renegotiating
NAFTA.
Asian leaders have been
scrambling to save the TPP, and US Trade Representative Michael Froman
warned last week that scrapping it would have "serious" strategic and
economic costs.
Trump's pledge to
pull out of the deal was one of six points on which he promised
immediate executive action — which he can take without Congressional
approval — all of which broadly echoed his campaign positions.
Sticking
to his theme of protecting US jobs, Trump said he would direct the
Department of Labour to investigate abuses of visa programs "that
undercut the American worker."
On
energy, the president-elect has pledged to boost the oil and gas sector
and bring back coal, reversing Obama's efforts to encourage renewables.
In
the video message he promised to "cancel job-killing restrictions on
the production of American energy — including shale energy and clean
coal — creating many millions of high-paying jobs."
Regarding
national security, Trump said he would ask the Department of Defence
and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to "develop a
comprehensive plan to protect America's vital infrastructure from
cyber-attacks, and all other form of attacks."
On
cutting government red tape — another central pledge — he promised "a
rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations
must be eliminated."
And on the
subject of ethics — the Republican has vowed to "drain the swamp" in
Washington, although his own transition team includes several lobbyists —
he promised "a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists
after they leave the administration."
MAD DOG' MATTIS
There
was no mention in the message of some of Trump's biggest campaign
promises — notably his pledge to build a wall along the Mexican border,
deport millions of immigrants, restrict Muslim immigration, or repeal
the Obamacare healthcare law.
The
video was issued as the stream of would-be appointees continued at his
New York headquarters, with the day's talk focusing on retired general
James "Mad Dog" Mattis being nominated as secretary of defence.
Despite
the 66-year-old Marine's renowned frankness — "Be polite, be
professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet" — he enjoys
warm support in Washington and should sail through confirmation.
Trump's camp has said no new nomination announcements were imminent.
"It
could come this week. It could come today but we're not in a rush to
publish names just because everybody is looking for the next story,"
campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said.
After
Mattis, Trump's other choices may prove more complicated, such as that
for secretary of state, reportedly between former Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, both of whom met
Trump over the weekend at his golf club in New Jersey.
After
meeting potential hires, Trump hosted private talks with a group of top
US news anchors and executives — with whom he repeatedly feuded during
the campaign — for what Conway described as a chance to "hit the reset
button."
Late on Tuesday or early on
Wednesday, Trump is to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to take a
"brief" Thanksgiving holiday break with his family.
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