Why President Obama is Holding His Fire

If you only read one thing: President Obama was a frequent and vocal critic of Donald Trump on the campaign trail, but now that Trump is President-elect, Obama is holding his fire. At a press conference Monday and on conference calls with Democrats, Obama urged patience for Trump, who he acknowledged is rapidly coming to terms with the enormity of the office he’s soon to occupy. Obama sidestepped questions about his past criticism of Trump, Trump’s policy agenda, and his hiring of Breitbart’s Stephen Bannon.

The Democratic Party’s soul-searching continues as it seeks its next chair. Among those who have thrown their name into the mix are the Muslim-American Rep. Keith Ellison, former DNC chair Howard Dean, South Carolina party chair Jaime Harrison and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Before it can select a person, the DNC has to decide what type of leadership it wants—a vocal spokesperson, an effective fundraiser, and/or an astute political operative and manager. Finding someone who meets all of those criteria is almost impossible, and the party will have to decide which is values more. It may look to the RNC for guidance, where the party relied on more technocratic leadership to return to victory.

How Trump is bringing the Alt-Right to the White House. Obama takes a shot at Clinton. And Big Business bets big on Trump.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

President Obama on Donald Trump: ‘This Office Has a Way of Waking You Up’
Obama urges time for his successor to govern [TIME]

Democrats’ First Big Decision Since the Election: Choosing a New Leader
A choice for the direction of a listless party [TIME]

How Donald Trump Is Bringing the Alt-Right to the White House
The former media mogul is Trump’s link to the right-wing fringe [TIME]

Obama Suggests Clinton Didn’t Work as Hard as He Did
‘I spent 87 days going to every small town and fair and fish fry and VFW hall,’ Obama said. [Politico]

U.S. Businesses Bet on Which Trump Will Govern
Populist Donald Trump or traditional Republican? [Wall Street Journal]

Sound Off

“Regardless of what experience or assumptions he brought to the office, this office has a way of waking you up” — President Obama on his meeting with Donald Trump at a press conference Monday

“I told my team you are allowed to mope for a week and a half, maybe two if you really need it.” — Obama on a conference call with supporters

Bits and Bites

Short list emerges for RNC chair [Politico]

SEC Chair Mary Jo White Will Step Down at the End of the Obama Administration [Associated Press]

Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law Linked to Homicide Increase [TIME]

Will Anti-Trump Marches Become a Movement? [TIME]

Ex-Intelligence Chairman Rogers Leaves Trump Transition Team [Bloomberg]

Steve Bannon Who? Washington Republicans Say They “Don’t Know” Trump Strategist [BuzzFeed]

Trump and Putin speak by phone, say they’ll work together to improve relations [Washington Post]

Latino groups argue Trump’s immigration stance close to Obama’s [Financial Times]

Trump advisers steamroll Christie’s transition [Politico]