Trump makes first team appointments

US President-elect Donald Trump has begun appointing people to key positions on his incoming team.The first – that of his chief of staff – has gone to Reince Priebus.

The move is being seen as Trump appeasing the Republican party establishment as Priebus is a firm favourite among them.

The role of a White House chief of staff is highly influential as whoever gets the job acts acts as a gatekeeper and agenda-setter for the president,

Priebus is a longtime Wisconsin political operative who was credited with marshaling party resources for Trump’s White House bid. The Republican National Committee (of which he is chairman) stepped in and ran most of the party’s get-out-the-vote effort this year in the absence of such an operation by the Trump campaign.

Welcome to the team Reince Priebus, Chief of Staff & Steve Bannon, Chief Strategist! #FL4 realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/XPKHwXNICT— Florida For Trump (@FL4TRUMPDOTCOM) November 13, 2016

Stephen Bannon, from the conservative Breitbart News Network, is to serve as Trump’s main strategist. He was formally his campaign chief.

Breitbart is the most-read conservative news website in the US, set up to challenge the power of mainstream media.

One of the big challenges of the new administration will be reconciling Trump with the mainstream Republican party, where sharp divisions emerged during the primaries.