Donald Trump's meeting Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely be "informal," with deeper conversations – including the president-elect's campaign promise to make Japan pay for its own defense – to come after Inauguration Day, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said Thursday.
"I think any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration," Conway told the "CBS This Morning" program. "Maybe they'll discuss that today."
But most likely, the meeting will be "much more" informal, since President Barack Obama is still in office.
Also on Thursday, Conway denied reports Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was seeking national security clearance or he had "applied for any job," even though he is important to Trump and was a "big part of our election victory."
Conway also discussed reports South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley could be under consideration for secretary of state, noting it would be "irresponsible" to discuss the names of all the people being considered.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's name has also been thrown into the hat, and Conway said Thursday he is a "leading" candidate for "any number" of jobs, and called him "very loyal" to Trump.
She said she has also discussed her own role moving forward with Trump, but she is still sorting that out, as she is the mother of four young children and has to "really balance the personal considerations with the professional ones."
Conway told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the Trump transition team is on target with the timeline used by past administrations, and decisions are being made "quickly and imminently."
"They'll be announced either before, or after Thanksgiving, and then you'll see a number of announcements," she said. "I think he'll decide, and he's probably closer to some of those decisions than people realize.
"You just don't know. Nobody is in a rush to do the wrong thing. He's taking counsel of many different people."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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