Thursday's Headlines: Factions vie for power in Trump’s inner circle

Trump defends pace of transition work as process remains opaque; Obama and Merkel issue a joint rebuttal to the coming Trump era ; Trump Tower: The home of a reality show, a campaign and now a transition; Hillary Clinton: 'There is common ground to build upon'; Essay: To decipher this presidency, we must decipher Ivanka. Good luck with that. ; Kids write to Trump asking him to be kind: 'Do not say mean things';   The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Factions vie for power in Trump's inner circle Associates of the president-elect said Donald Trump will govern by seeking counsel from numerous people and that he will solicit rather than shun competing advice. A "top-down White House is not him," said one former campaign adviser. By Philip Rucker and Robert Costa  •  Read more » Trump defends pace of transition work as process remains opaque While attention continued to focus on potential national security picks, the Trump team also announced late Wednesday that members of the administration will be required to pledge that they will not engage in lobbying for five years after leaving their positions. By Karen DeYoung  •  Read more »   Obama and Merkel issue a joint rebuttal to the coming Trump era The two penned an op-ed piece recognizing the painful side of freer trade along with a sober reality check. By Anthony Faiola  •  Read more »   Trump Tower: The home of a reality show, a campaign and now a transition The Midtown Manhattan skyscraper, open to the public from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., is where Donald Trump lives and works. It was the setting for his reality television show and the headquarters of his presidential campaign. Now, this is the president-elect's base of operations as he assembles his administration. By Jenna Johnson  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Hillary Clinton: 'There is common ground to build upon' The Democratic nominee spoke at the Newseum at an event hosted by the Children's Defense Fund. By John Wagner  •  Read more »   Essay: To decipher this presidency, we must decipher Ivanka. Good luck with that. The mystery of Ivanka is that she always does seem to be running some kind of clandestine mission — blowing some kind of dog whistle, or becoming the attractive vessel into which both parties poured their own hopes and dreams. By Monica Hesse  •  Read more »   Kids write to Trump asking him to be kind: 'Do not say mean things' "The power of this movement comes from the kindness and unity we can teach our children," the Facebook group's founder says. By Amy B Wang  •  Read more »   Opinions   'My vote was the only way to say I'm here': Why Americans voted for Donald Trump Read more »   On Day One, Trump should find these two measures on his desk By George F. Will  •  Read more »   Intraparty fratricide looms over the GOP By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   The Alliance for the Republic we so badly need By E.J. Dionne Jr.  •  Read more »   Take Trump seriously and literally By Charles Lane  •  Read more »   Hateful acts are on the rise, and it's Trump's responsibility to take a stand By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Internal document shows U.S. chicken prices may have been artificially inflated for years If you thought you were paying fair prices for chicken at the supermarket, think again. Now even a key player doubts their accuracy. By Peter Whoriskey  •  Read more » Stephen Hawking just gave humanity a deadline to find a new planet to colonize The theoretical physicist says that we have 1,000 years. Remaining on Earth any longer, Hawking believes, places humanity at great risk of encountering another mass extinction. By Peter Holley  •  Read more » Landmark report by surgeon general calls drug crisis ‘a moral test for America’ The report places drug and alcohol addiction alongside smoking, AIDS and other public health crises of the past half-century, but offers reasons for optimism despite a still-increasing overdose epidemic. By Lenny Bernstein  •  Read more » Tenn. official resigns after calling the KKK 'more American' than Obama David Barber, deputy director of the Shelby County Corrections Center in Memphis for 17 years, faced a growing controversy over his Facebook posts. By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.  •  Read more » Oxford Dictionaries names 'post-truth' word of the year The Brexit referendum and a surreal U.S. presidential election caused usage of "post-truth" to skyrocket, according to the Oxford University Press. By Amy B Wang  •  Read more » NFL doctors should not report to teams, Harvard study recommends The report urges the nation's most popular sports league to upend its system of medicine and untangle the loyalties of the doctors and trainers charged with treating players. By Rick Maese  •  Read more » Ex-congressman was Nixon's defense secretary at peak of Vietnam War Described as the "quintessential firefighter," Melvin Laird dramatically reduced U.S. troop involvement in Vietnam, supported the cause of bringing home U.S. prisoners of war and worked to end the draft. He died Wednesday at 94. By Timothy R. Smith  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you are signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. 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