--- title: Chris Christie Will Lead Donald Trump's Transition Team description: Donald Trump announced that Chris Christie will lead his transition team if he wins the White House. canonical: https://time.com/4322889/donald-trump-chris-christie-white-house/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-09T15:22:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:50:30.716Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chris Christie Will Lead Donald Trump's Transition Team og:description: Donald Trump announced that Chris Christie will lead his transition team if he wins the White House. og:url: https://time.com/4322889/donald-trump-chris-christie-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d721f14baf9c677/69889270428a9e8101cd28ce/trump-christie-white-house-transition-team.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, Chris Christie og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Christie Will Lead Donald Trump's Transition Team twitter:description: Donald Trump announced that Chris Christie will lead his transition team if he wins the White House. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d721f14baf9c677/69889270428a9e8101cd28ce/trump-christie-white-house-transition-team.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Announces Chris Christie Will Lead His White House Transition Team > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0b3c3520-722c-49f6-856c-747fa08e9918&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A More "Presidentially Correct" Trump? [Watch (HLS stream): A More "Presidentially Correct" Trump?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Jq72wMzX.m3u8) (1:38)  _Published 2016-05-05. We're tracking Trump statements with Time's Presidential-o-Meter to see how "Presidentially Correct" he can sound._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 9, 2016 3:22 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 9, 2016 3:22 PM UTC The general election hasn’t started yet, but Donald Trump has already announced that Chris Christie will lead his [transition team](http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1857026,00.html) if he wins the White House. “Governor Christie is an extremely knowledgeable and loyal person with the tools and resources to put together an unparalleled Transition Team, one that will be prepared to take over the White House when we win in November,” Trump said in a statement released Monday. (Christie [endorsed Trump](http://time.com/4239160/chris-christie-endorses-donald-trump-for-president/?iid=sr-link3) in February.) It’s early in the election cycle to announce a transition team— then-candidate Barack Obama did not name his [until November](http://www.usnews.com/news/campaign-2008/articles/2008/11/05/obama-names-transition-team) in 2008\. But now that Trump is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, he’s looking ahead to facing likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton after both parties’ conventions in July. “Mr. Trump has begun shifting towards a general election strategy and implementing an infrastructure capable of securing a victory including making key hires, building a finance operation to benefit the Republican Party and unifying the party by working with several Republican leaders now voicing their support for Mr. Trump and his candidacy,” his statement says. ## Transcript So there have been reports that you've been getting pressure from your staff to act more presidential, is that the case? Do you need to act more presidential? No, no, not at all. We have had no pressure to act more presidential. The Trump administration will lead a free world. Sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a five year old. I didn't start it. That is properly armed and funded. Every parent knows a kid who says he- That's not a five year old. Excuse me, when I become president, the days of treating Israel like a second class citizen will end. Now I have a lot of friends, by the way, Mitt Romney is not one of them. Did he choke? I would like to talk today about how to develop a new foreign policy direction for our country. We can't continue to allow. To rape our country. One that replaces randomness with purpose. Ideology with strategy and chaos with peace. Here's a guy, throwing punches, nasty as hell, screaming at everything else. I'd like to punch him in the face. The countries we are defending must pay For the cost of this defense. We're gonna knock the **** out of ISIS. [ APPLAUSE ] Gonna knock the **** out of them. Governor Kasich and Senator Cruz have really, really hurt themselves. Somebody has to be where the belt's going in because the belt moves this way. It moves this way. [ LAUGH ] It moves that way. We have won millions of more votes than Senator Cruz, a lying Ted, lying. He's a lying guy! I felt that I had to hit back very hard, but at the right time I will be so presidential you will be so bored. 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