Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the preparations, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s transition. POLITICO Pro subscribers receive a version of this newsletter first. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren | Email Lisa | Email Megan DONALD TRUMP has big plans for his first 100 days. (That is, his second first 100 days.) But conflicts abroad, including in the Middle East and Ukraine, could threaten to derail them, ANDREW CARD, GEORGE W. BUSH’s first chief of staff, and MACK McLARTY, BILL CLINTON’s first chief of staff, told West Wing Playbook. The biggest challenge of this early period, both Card and McLarty said, is “unforeseen occurrences.” Bush, for instance, didn’t plan to spend some of those pivotal days figuring out how and why a U.S. sub sank a Japanese fishing boat, Card added. Four former White House chiefs of staff — Card, McLarty, RON KLAIN, JOE BIDEN’s first chief, and JOHN H. SUNUNU, GEORGE H.W. BUSH’s first chief — shared with West Wing Playbook what their first 100 days in office were like and what unexpected challenges they faced. (They also shared their advice for incoming chief of staff SUSIE WILES in our Dec. 24 edition.) The conversations have been edited for length and clarity. Washington puts a lot of attention on the first 100 days. How important are they actually? McLarty: You have to lift off to be successful in moving toward your destination/vision. It’s particularly important that a new president engages with the country where people start having a favorable feeling about him even if they didn’t vote for him. Not only is that important for his presidency, but it builds political capital that he will need with the Congress. You also have to make good on your major campaign promises and address the critical issues most important to voters, including immigration and the economy. For President Clinton during the first term, it was the economic plan we were able to get passed, and later balancing the budget. That initial plan was the foundation the president needed to build on and was critical to the success of the first 100 days and beyond. And finally, you have to be prepared for UFOs (“unforeseen occurrences” — not flying objects) that are almost certain to come at you and require immediate attention. Sununu: They are important, but so are the second 100 days, etc. Card: I think it’s an outside expectation more than it is an inside expectation. But I do think it gives people who are working in the White House discipline to focus on the agenda and to be a conscience for the president to follow through on the things he promised to do as a candidate — and it also helps to get some definition to the support that you’re expecting from Congress. The biggest challenge of having a 100-day plan is unforeseen occurrences — and you get them. I remember under George W. Bush we had the U.S. sub that sank a Japanese fishing boat. The whole world was worried. We spent five days trying to find out what happened to the boat and what happened to the people on the boat — high school students from Japan. That was something that we obviously didn’t plan to do in our first 100 days. Klain: I think the first 100 day milestone will be less significant for a returning president. This will be Trump’s second first 100 days — so he has some experience to lean on here — but what’s one mistake presidents, or their administrations, often make early on? McLarty: A historic mistake has usually been to try to overreach, try to do too much too quickly, or make decisions based on the reversal of the prior administration’s decisions. You have to do some of that, but also try to stay focused on your priorities and getting things done for the American people. Sununu: Underestimating the difficulty of working with your own party in Congress. Card: They don't understand that the world is not on the same timeline. The foreign policy world doesn't march to the drum of America. I think it's particularly challenging right now with Syria, what Turkey has been going through, and what's going on in the Middle East. And what North Korea is doing and what South Korea just went through — I think there are a lot of things that could be distractions from your 100-day plan but are uniquely the responsibility of a president to help guide because the rest of the world looks to America for leadership. Every president enters with the hope of two terms, but this administration is entering knowing they only have four years. Does that shrink the window in which Trump, and his administration, can be effective? Card: Well, first of all, my fear is that there are some people around him [who] will think that he can have a third term. So I don't think I'm good at anticipating what his expectation might be, or what the staff’s expectations are. Klain: The jockeying on succession can make the late years of a termed president complicated, as Reagan saw in ’87-’88 and Clinton in ’99-’00. McLarty: I don’t think Trump’s having only one 4-year term left in office necessarily shrinks the window during which he can be effective. In a unique way, I believe it enlarges it, and I think he’ll have more latitude to make hard decisions. History will prove whether they will be the correct ones. Sununu: I think that in Trump’s second term [not having to worry about running again] may be helpful. What is the biggest challenge facing this administration in its first 100 days? Sununu: Fixing the border fast and helping Speaker [Mike] Johnson herd his Republican House members. Klain: It’s important to stay focused on the central things in the first 100 days. Card: I think it’s the foreign policy challenges that have materialized in the last 100 days. It’s a dangerous world right now, and America’s leadership is needed — not necessarily always wanted — but obligated. If America does not lead as we deal with these international challenges, the void will be filled by somebody else, and that's something you don't want to have happen. MESSAGE US — Are you JEFF ZIENTS? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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