Donald Trump, US President - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Donald Trump

Explanation:
US President Donald Trump (70) was sworn in as the 45^th President of the United States of America (USA).

He was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts.

He succeeded Barack Obama who completed his second four year term.

With this, he became first President of USA without political experience since Dwight D. Eisenhower (34^th President).

Besides, Mike Pence was also sworn-in as the Vice President of the US before Trump.

ANSWER: Jared Kushner

Explanation:
President elect Donald Trump appointed his influential son-in-law Jared Kushner as a White House senior adviser on 9^th Jan 2017.

This puts estate executive Kushner in position to exert broad sway over both domestic and foreign policy.

It will influence particularly Middle East issues and trade negotiations.

Kushner is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka. She will not be taking a formal White House position.

Mr. Kushner’s own eligibility for the White House could be challenged, given a 1967 law meant to bar government officials from hiring relatives.

Mr. Kushner will resign as CEO of his family’s real estate company and as publisher of the New York Observer.

The anti-nepotism law had appeared to be the main obstacle to Mr. Kushner joining the White House.

Know More About Jared Kushner

• Born: January 10, 1981 (age 35),
• Place of Birth: Livingston, New Jersey, United States
• Spouse: Ivanka Trump (since 2009)
• Education: Harvard University (2003), Frisch School.

ANSWER: Raj Shah

Explanation:
US President elect Donald Trump has appointed an expert on strategic communications and political research, Raj Shah as his deputy assistant and research director on the White House staff.

Trump has also announced on 4th Jan 2016 that Shah would also hold the post of deputy communications director. Shah aided Trump's campaign by highlighting contradictions in Clinton's political positions and issues like her handling of the private email server.

Republican National Committee has credited him with developing the organisation's opposition research book on Hillary Clinton.

Reince Priebus has been announced as Trump's chief of staff.

Know More About Raj Shah

• Research director and deputy communications director at the Republican National Committee.
• Shah is also MD of America Rising.
• His area of specialisation is opposition research.
• He worked as a research assistant during George W.Bush's presidency.
• He also worked in John McCain's 2008 unsuccessful presidential campaign against Barack Obama.

ANSWER: Robert Lighthizer

Explanation:
President elect of the United States, Donald Trump named prominent trade attorney Robert Lighthizer as his chief trade negotiator. He will be in charge of negotiating deals and engaging in trade relationships with other countries.

Before this, Robert Lighthizer had served as the Deputy United States Trade Representative under the Ronald Regan administration and is known for harsh critic of China’s trade practices.

He has extensive experience in striking agreements that protect some of the most important sectors of the US. Lighthizer has repeatedly fought in the private sector to prevent bad deals from hurting Americans.

During his stint in the Regan Administration, he played a major role in developing trade policy and negotiating roughly two dozen bilateral international agreements on a variety of topics from grains to steel.

About the Office of the US Trade Representatives

• Formed: 1962
• Preceding agency: Office of the Special Trade Representative
• Headquarters: Winder Building 600 17th St. NW Washington, D.C.
• Employees: 200
• Website: www.ustr.gov
• Parent agency: Executive Office of the President of the United States

Current Trade Rep executives Under Obama Administration


• Michael Froman, US Trade Representative
• Robert Holleyman, Deputy US Trade Representative
• Michael Punke, Deputy US Trade Representative (Geneva)

ANSWER: 270

Explanation:
Donald Trump won 304 votes in the US electoral college to formally win the presidency.

The billionaire and real estate mogul will become America’s 45th president.

Mr Trump’s polarising victory in Nov and the Democrat Hillary Clinton’s winning the popular vote had created lobbying, but to no avail.

With several states still voting, Mr Trump had 304 votes and Mrs Clinton had 169. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency.

Texas put Mr Trump over the top, despite two Republican electors casting protest votes.

Clinton lost 4 electors in Washington.

In Madison, WI, protesters shouted, cried and sang “Silent Night”. In Augusta, Maine, they held signs that said, “Don’t let Putin Pick Our President,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Electoral College

• Members: 538
• Numbers allocated to states based on how many reps it has in the House plus one for each senator.
• District of Columbia got three votes.
• It is home to the Congress.
• It has no vote in the Congress.

ANSWER: Rex TIllerson

Explanation:
US President-elect Donald Trump named the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp as the country’s top diplomat, signalling close ties to the Russian government.

Word of Rex Tillerson’s possible appointment comes as U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Mr. Trump win the White House.

The option of Mr. Tillerson further stocks Mr. Trump’s Cabinet and inner circle with people who favour a soft line toward Moscow.

Mr. Tillerson (64) has fuelled Exxon’s expansion in Russia for decades and opposed U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia for its seizure of Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin honoured Mr. Tillerson with Russia’s Order of Friendship, one of the country’s highest civilian honours.

Trump would also name John Bolton, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations, as Deputy-Secretary of State.

In 2011, Exxon signed a deal with Rosneft, Russia’s largest state-owned oil company, for joint oil exploration and production. Since then, the companies have formed 10 joint ventures for projects in Russia.

Who is Rex Tillerson?

• CEO of Exxon Moobil
• Assumed office: Jan 1, 2006
• Preceded by: Lee Raymond
• 33rd President of the Boy Scouts of America.
• Political Party: Republican
• Awards: Russian order of Friendship(2013)

ANSWER: Donald Trump

Explanation:
Time magazine on Dec 7, 2016 named President - elect Donald Trump its Person of the Year. Time editor Nancy Gibbs indicated Democrat Hillary Clinton was the No. 2 finalist.

Gibbs said the choice of Trump this year was “straightforward”.

The Time cover reads, “Donald Trump - President of the Divided States of America” and the cover image features a photograph of the President-elect sitting in his private residence at Trump Tower.

Gibbs said Time gives the title to the person who has had the greatest influence on events “for better or worse”.

The No.3 finalist for the Person of the Year was “The Hackers,” which Gibbs said referred to “a new cyber security threat we saw this year of state-sponsored hackers looking to delegitimise an American election”.

This isn't the first time TIME has chosen a polarising figure for its world-famous annual profile. Stalin, Hitler and Khomeini were previous choices.

This year, Trump beat out five other contenders, including his election rival Hillary Clinton, musician Beyonce, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to be named "the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the readers' poll for the second time this year.

ANSWER: Ben Carson

Explanation:
Trump's decision, announced on Dec 5 by his transition office, comes as the real estate mogul continues a series of interviews, meetings with aides and other deliberations aimed at forming his administration.

Trump announced that he planned to nominate former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as his Treasury secretary and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to lead the Commerce Department.

Trump chose Betsy DeVos to be secretary of education and Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, to be transportation secretary.

Trump also has turned to retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be secretary of defence.

ANSWER: Nikki Haley

Explanation:
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

She is the first woman tapped for a top-level administration post during his White House transition so far.

44-year-old Haley is a rising Republican star and daughter of Indian immigrants.

Born as Nimrata ‘Nikki’ Randhawa to Indian immigrants from Punjab, she became the first female governor in South Carolina.

Ms. Haley is the second Asian American to become the Governor of a State after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

At 44, she’s the youngest current Governor in the U.S.

She is serving her second term.

Ms. Haley would replace Samantha Power as the next US Ambassador to the UN.

She would also be the first ever Indian-American Cabinet rank official in any administration.

About Nikki Haley

• Born in 1972 in Bamberg, South Carolina
• Birth Name: Nimrata “Nikki” Randhawa
• Parents: Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa
• Became the governor of South Carolina in 2011, at the age of 38.
• Southern state's first non-Caucasian as well as its first Asian-American governor.
• Second Indian-American governor of a US state, first being former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal
• Won the governorship for the second term in 2015
• Youngest serving governor in USA, at 44

ANSWER: Trans Pacific Partnership

Explanation:
America would withdraw from Trans Pacific Partnership and an investigation will be launched into visa abuses undercutting American workers.

Indian IT companies using the H1B visa program could be impacted by this move.

Obama had led the TPP deal of 12 Pacific Rim countries that exclude China. He had argued that TPP is essential for America to rewrite the rules of global commerce and not China.

Trump has announced he will issue notification of intent from the Trans Pacific Partnership which is a disaster for America.

Instead, the Americans aim to negotiate a fair, bilateral trade deal to bring jobs and industries back to American shores.

Trade, energy, national security, regulation, immigration and ethics reform are six areas to be the focus of administration in initial days.

“Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland: America – creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” said Trump.

His plan for the first 100 days involves cancelling job killing restrictions on coal and shale gas, reducing regulations, devising a plan to protect the vital infrastructure of America from cyber attacks and imposing a 5 year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists after they leave the government.

There will be a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying on behalf of an international government.