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Donald Trump To Tech Leaders: 'No Formal Chain Of Command' Here (cnbc.com)

A confab of tech titans had a "productive" meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Wednesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told CNBC, as Trump moved to mend fences with Silicon Valley before taking office in January. Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Cisco and Tesla were among the C-suite executives in attendance, with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk expected to get private briefings, according to transition staff. From the report: "We want you to keep going with the incredible innovation," Trump said. "There's no one like you in the world. ... anything we can do to help this go along, we're going to be there for you. You can call my people, call me -- it makes no difference -- we have no formal chain of command around here." At the meeting, Trump introduced billionaire Wilbur Ross, his Commerce secretary pick, and Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn, his choice for director of the National Economic Council. "They're going to do fair trade deals," Trump said. "They're going to make it easier for you to trade across borders, because there are a lot of restrictions, a lot of problems. If you have any ideas on that, that would be great."

20 of 488 comments (clear)

  1. heck of a choice by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    At the meeting, Trump introduced billionaire Wilbur Ross, his Commerce secretary pick, and Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn, his choice for director of the National Economic Council.

    i mean technically if you overfill a swamp with foetid detritus it will eventually matriculate into neighbourhoods, roads, schools, hospitals, and occasionally even an intended estuary or two. lets just give him a chance and see if he works out.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:heck of a choice by Merk42 · · Score: 5, Funny

      lets just give him a chance and see if he works out.

      If and when he fails, we can always blame Obama!

    2. Re:heck of a choice by MachineShedFred · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why not? There's still people around here blaming Bush...

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    3. Re:heck of a choice by mlw4428 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Government isn't a business. Trump's business "successes" hedged on him not paying contractors, manufacturing overseas, avoiding loan repayments, and bankruptcies. His main company, The Trump Organization, is racked with debt. It has the asset valuation to keep going, but cash on hand doesn't make the payments. As for Trump not being beholden to Wall Street, he's nominating Wall Streeters to his cabinet. He has ties to Russian banks as they were the only ones willing to continue loaning money to him. The fact that you're so blind and stupid about your choice of candidate shows just how fit of a voter you really are. You're the kind of retard who would vote for Bin Laden if he said he'd "drain the mosques".

    4. Re:heck of a choice by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Trump has a long track record of running hundreds of business ventures

      ...straight into the fucking ground. STRAIGHT INTO IT.

      Why? Because these businesses are not intended to succeed as that term is allegedly measured. They are intended to fail, and transfer wealth to Trump in the process.

      Trump is a con man. It's that simple. He is perhaps the most successful simple con man in American history. He is the poster child for reinstating a massive estate tax.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:heck of a choice by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or blaming Obama for withdrawing troops from Iraq, when it was Bush who signed the agreement to do so. Point that out, and then they claim Obama should have renegotiated, despite the fact that the Iraqi government wasn't willing to agree on any terms that would have been remotely acceptable.

      Or blaming Obama for the economy/budget deficit, despite the crash that took place under Bush before Obama was even elected. Could he have done more to fix it after he took office? Sure, but he was also facing huge resistance against anything he wanted to do towards that end.

    6. Re:heck of a choice by sh00z · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Shuttle was finally ended in 2011. After Obama took office, he had plenty of time to reinstate it.

      Not without huge costs that the taxpaying public never would have accepted. The facility for building External Tanks had been decommissioned, the one for cleaning SRB parachutes had been repurposed, and NASA had pretty much depleted eBay as a source for obsolete electronics.

    7. Re: heck of a choice by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Your argument is more or less:

      Clinton is beholden to big business, so let's skip the middle man and simply put big business right in the presidency.

      I mean sure yes, she has close ties (find a credible politician who doesn't) but Trumps are closer. She likes big business. He IS big business. See this is the thing that doesn't ring true when Trump voters give reasons for not voting for Hillary: most of the things they complain about are actually worse in Trump's case. I think there are underlying reasons for their choice and most of what you hear is rationalization.

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      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  2. "Just call me, we have no chain of command" by Elfich47 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trump is going to find out people are not going to "just call the president" because all of those calls get blocked by the switchboard. Trump is going to find out that casual phone calls do not happen as president, his schedule is locked down to the minute. This boiler maker atmosphere that trump seems to enjoy is going to be counter productive in an environment where decisions need to be made and then acted on and revisiting choices wastes time that needs to be used on other decisions coming in the door.

    --
    Architectural plans are like computer source code with a couple of differences: You only compile once.
    1. Re:"Just call me, we have no chain of command" by EmeraldBot · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Trump is going to find out people are not going to "just call the president" because all of those calls get blocked by the switchboard. Trump is going to find out that casual phone calls do not happen as president, his schedule is locked down to the minute. This boiler maker atmosphere that trump seems to enjoy is going to be counter productive in an environment where decisions need to be made and then acted on and revisiting choices wastes time that needs to be used on other decisions coming in the door.

      It'll work out because it won't be him in this position, it'll be Pence. Trump's presidency will largely rise and fall by how much Pence is willing to do for him, and how much Pence covers him - if Pence gets fed up, I have a suspicion Trump won't be able to cope, and he's used to simply walking away when it gets tough and waiting for a better time. Not an option as president - however, if Pence deals with all of this, as I suspect he will because he wants his own chance in 2020, then all Trump has to do is sit in the office and spend his weekends at his Florida resort, and sign the odd paper here and there. Trump could pull off the latter very successfully, he's good at taking credit (and I don't mean that exclusively in a derogatory sense; one of Obama's biggest issues was that for many of his successes, people simply took them for granted after the fact.)

      --
      "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    2. Re: "Just call me, we have no chain of command" by Elfich47 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You can call it astute observation. The Whitehouse switch board is notorious for blocking everyone who isn't scheduled. I don't see Trump ever getting an unscheduled phone call.

      Trump has a history of setting up boiler-maker environments where people have to vie for his favor. It makes for an environment where everyone is attempting to curry favor with him. Trump enjoys it because everyone has to come to him and he can play favorites and pit people against each other. Think of a King, his courtiers and the court. Listen to the stories of the infighting already occurring in his transition team -that is people attempting to vie for favor with Trump.

      --
      Architectural plans are like computer source code with a couple of differences: You only compile once.
    3. Re: "Just call me, we have no chain of command" by TheSync · · Score: 5, Funny

      The Whitehouse switch board is notorious for blocking everyone who isn't scheduled. I don't see Trump ever getting an unscheduled phone call.

      That's OK, you can always tweet him...

  3. Why not? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why not? There's still people around here blaming Bush...

    Well, to the sound bite world we live in, it does sound unreasonable to blame past Presidents for current troubles. Like, why should be blame Lincoln for the getting the US through the Civil War and freeing the slaves? Why do we still blame him after all these years?!

    And blaming FDR for leading us through the Depression - even though many of the programs he got through Congress really didn't work. And he dragged his feet into getting us into WWII. And blaming Truman for dropping the A-Bomb on Japan! We still do that!

    MAybe - just maybe and bear with me - because it's HISTORY.

    And when folks look back on the beginning of the 21st Century, they are going to see that the US went into two horrible wars based on the incompetence of the Bush II Administration. They are going the see the ramifications - like the creation of ISIS. They are going to see a budget shot to shit. They are going to see a financial collapse - that did have it's roots in the Clinton administration but never the less came to frustration with the lax regulatory environment of a Republican controlled government.

    And then we'll see how the next President got stuck with the problems and through brinkmanship and obstruction by the Republicans in Congress for all 8 years of his term, he was barely able to get anything done - but blamed him for it - even though they kept on these ridiculous quests and held the government hostage to get rid of the ACA and defund Planned Parenthood over some video that was a lie.

    And now that they are back in power? They are going to replace the ACA - OK good - but not get rid of it because now it's "their" idea.

    So, I will keep blaming Bush for the stupidity and the utter nonsense we're in - especially the crap in the Middle East. Thanks to Bush, there will NEVER be peace in the Middle East and we the USA are going to have to deal with it for the rest of our existence - and frankly, I think it's contributing to our current downfall.

  4. Re:Slashdot is killing itself by whipslash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Our traffic has been growing since my company acquired Slashdot, regardless of what Alexa says. Also, reporting a direct quote from the President of the United States to tech leaders is not "partisan". Posting NYT revenue stats from the Daily Caller IS. Lastly, we do not do things around here in order to increase traffic. We cover things we think are worth covering. If you're triggered by a direct quote then perhaps you should just scroll past the story.

  5. Re:64% blame Bush by PackMan97 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Bush inherited a growing economy" Fascinating. It's as if the recession that starting in March of 2001, just two months after Bush took office never happened. Glad to see Bush haters are "all-in" on fake news. It's a tribute to Bush that recession was so shallow and quick despite the attacks on 9/11. That said, there is no doubt that part of the response to that recession directly led to the recession that started in Dec 2007, so there is that.

  6. Re:64% blame Bush by Moof123 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It also cannot be ignored that 2 years into Obama's presidency congress turned red, and rather vocally announced they would put the prevention of any Obama successes ahead of the best interest of the country. Having one whole branch of the government not operating in good faith is a very strong headwind, and despite that we have had very large job growth and historically low unemployment over the last 8 years.

  7. Re:Slashdot is killing itself by whipslash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lol? He mentioned me in his comment and I responded. I also own the place, not an employee.

  8. Re:64% blame Bush by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How the hell did this get modded up? Bush inherited a faltering economy. He entered office just after the dot-com bubble burst. His election was in Nov 2000, he entered office Jan 2001, and a President's first budget doesn't kick in until January the following year. During a President's first year, he's actually coasting along on the previous President's budget. So the 2001 recession and 9/11 (2001) actually happened before Bush's first budget went into effect (2002).

    The "removed regulations" that led to the housing crisis and 2007 recession are mostly blamed on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. It was passed in 1999 and signed by... Bill Clinton. Blame is also cast on HUD lending policies mandating a larger share of loans be for affordable housing, also started under Clinton. And interest rates reduced to historically low levels to combat the sluggish economy after the dot-com bubble bursting, responsibility for which also falls upon Clinton (if you buy into the idea that Presidents are wholly responsible for the economy). You can't even blame Bush for maintaining the low interest rates through 2005. The interest rates are set by the Federal Reserve, whose chairman at the time was Alan Greenspan - a Reagan appointee retained through Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. because everyone though he was doing a great job. It was actually Bush Jr. who replaced him in 2006 with Ben Bernanke (who Obama retained).

    Personally, I don't blame Presidents for bad economies. They only suggest a budget. Congress actually makes it (whether they follow any of the President's suggestions is up to them). And since we don't have a line item veto, the President has a take it or leave it choice when it comes to signing off on the whole thing. So I mostly blame Congress for bad economies, Presidents for bad executive decisions (e.g. the second Iraq war). But if you insist on blaming Presidents for bad economies, responsibility for most of what you listed falls upon Clinton, not Bush.

  9. Re:64% blame Bush by Pfhorrest · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is why this country needs a radical left. Anarchists and socialists of every stripe, most of them as wrong as the crazies dragging the whole country down to the right for a generation, just in the opposite direction. So that people can see that there's crazy at the fringe in either direction, and find where true moderation is somewhere in between them.

    Kinda like how the existence of the Black Panthers made Martin Luther King, Jr., seem all the more reasonable. The Panthers were wrong, but they were useful, and a really crazy loud radical left would be usefully wrong in a similar way.

    --
    -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
    "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
  10. Re:Slashdot is killing itself by HeckRuler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No no. Wait people, give this post a chance. It's actually quite insightful.

    Climate change is science. But it's science that "the Left" cares about, and "the Right" does not. And talking about it therefore makes Slashdot a partisan hack and pisses off a subset of Slashdot.

    This guy wants his news bubble enforced. A news site he goes to is talking about a topic he wants to ignore. And he is upset.