18/11/2016 Newsnight

Tonight Donald Trump shows his hand and leaves no one in any doubt

of the kind of government he wants to run.

Three hardliners on immmigration, justice and terrorism -

this man will be his security advisor.

Anybody that is foolish enough to think that conflict or wall can't

break out again, although have to do is study a little bit of history.

They call them Jam, people who are Just About Managing,

but is it anything more than a sticky new label?

We'll discuss whether the Government can actually do anything for them.

When this 14 week job interview is over only one

And has the Trump victory just proved celebrity status is now

I can comment on something I am sort of an expert at,

which is Donald Trump's much better on camera.

He's really good at delivering lines and I supported Hillary but she's

The big question - perhaps the biggest question -

of a Donald Trump presidency was whether it would

sound very different to a Donald Trump campaign.

The first indication of an answer came today with a resounding no.

The President-elect has named three of his top cabinet posts -

national security advisor, attorney general and CIA chief.

All three jobs have been taken by loyalists, all of them hardline

supporters of the Trump policy on immigration and on terrorism.

They flesh out parts of Trump we weren't sure

Tonight, as Donald Trump agreed to pay out $25 million to settle

a lawsuit over Trump University, a move he now hopes will end that

controversy, we ask what his time in government will really look like,

and whether today's annoucnements provide the closest indication that

Donald Trump did indeed mean what he said.

The first top Trump cards will not come as any surprise to those

expecting the new presidency to herald a sharp shift to the right.

Retired Lieutenant General Mike Flynn will be national security

adviser, a man with a tough approach to militant Islam who warned us back

in July to take trumpet his plans seriously. They underestimate Donald

Trump. They underestimate his big strategic leadership capabilities,

his very effective large problem-solving capabilities, and

his ability to make decisions. Michael Flynn, like Trump, has

called for closer ties between the US and Russia, a warmth that has

worried security experts. Sarah Chase, a security adviser, worked in

the same office as Mike Flynn for three years. He is someone that at

best I would be comfortable with if there were grown-ups in the room.

The problem is in this administration, there really don't

so far seem to be many grown-ups. And so I don't see what prevents

things from going off the rails a bit. Trump's Attorney General will

be Jeff Sessions, a man who sees eye to eye with Trump on immigration,

and was the first senator to endorse him. The house of the Senate are

charged up, they believe we have got a new leader, and the president will

be the one who sets the agenda. The names still have to be vetted by a

confirmation hearing, and this is where Sessions could face obstacles.

I am not a racist, I am not insensitive to blacks, I have

supported civil rights activity in my state. Accused of racism 30 years

ago, he was forced to withdraw from a judge ship under Reagan. I have

known him for several years, albeit not well. He has been a very able

senator, a Conservative member, but you never know what is in someone's

heart. I just won't believe that he is a racist. Mike Pompeo will head

the CIA, a former Army officer who has served three terms in Congress

committee shot to prominence over the congressional investigation into

Benghazi, memorable for its 12 hours of unflinching questioning of

Hillary Clinton. Are you saying there was no balance? There was two

pages. I have seen the CIA function almost as a rogue organisation, and

the thought of having a rogue in charge of a rogue organisation is

pretty distressing. Of course, these incendiary words like rogue, racist,

ideologue, may strike a note of fear into those who, for the sake of

argument, we might call the liberal elite. But they won't have much

truck with Trump supporters themselves. These appointments have

already had the backing of the former leader of the KKK as well as

more moderates along the way. However loud the words of warning

shout, at this point it is criticism shouting at itself. These

appointments confirm that Rob rewards loyalty and they have

probably all passed muster with his son-in-law, Jarrod Cashin, critical

gatekeeper to the selection process. The one confirmation we haven't had

yet is Pape Souare is crucial, the Secretary of State. Names touted for

this role include Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney, both as likely and are

unlikely as each other. And if anybody wondered whether this

campaign rhetoric would be cemented in policy, perhaps the first hints

are starting to emerge. Make America great again. If Trump's own ideology

was ever in doubt, that of those who will now surround him and act for

him are not. Donald Trump's wall is beginning to take on a whole new

meaning, a set of Dell -- citadel around the man himself.

John Fredricks is a long-time Trump supporter.

He speaks to a solid base of supporters through his

And from Washington I'm joined by Julianne Smith,

a Deputy National Security Advisor to the Obama administration.

John, do you think it is a good or bad thing that Donald Trump seems to

be surrounding himself with completely like-minded folk, men? I

think he is surrounding himself with those that he wants to put in his

cabinet that will carry out his agenda. He ran one of the most

specific campaigns in the history of America. He laid out very, very

specific agenda items. He told the American people exactly what he was

going to do. He said it over and over and over, it was not vague, it

was not a visionary without specifics. He proposed a contract

for America, everything that he said he was going to do, we expect Donald

Trump is going to do. He got elected with the biggest electoral college

mandate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. This election was not close. He has

a mandate. We expect President-elect Trump is going to do exactly what he

told the American people he was going to do for 18 months. Is it

matter to you that one of those people is Jeff Sessions, one of only

two people not to be confirmed as a federal judge because of racist

remarks, and now he will be Attorney General, does that bother you?

Absolutely not. I know Jeff Sessions very well, I know him from Alabama,

I have talked to him many times, probably had him on my show 20

times. So it is not a worry? Jeff Sessions has represented the state

of Alabama, he has been a stellar member of the US Senate, he is a

statesman. We can go back and find what somebody set or posted on

social media said in 1959 or 1963. He was denied a position as a

federal judge. Does racism not matter any more in America? Of

course race matters! You can't just paint people racist because you

don't agree with their policies. What happened on November the 8th

and America had nothing to do with race at all. It was about jobs, and

it was an absolute revolt in America of working-class Americans who have

been kicked to the curb, their jobs shipped overseas, they had no

advocate until Donald Trump came along, and he said, look, I am going

to fix this. I want to bring Julianne Smith in. This is clearly

what America has voted for, this is the Trump that they want. Let me

first say in terms of Trump delivering on his promises, we have

already seen a softening of his core position, so I disagree that the

American people are going to get exactly what they voted for. A lot

is said on the campaign trail. It is a different story when you are

sitting in the Oval Office. He has rolled back his language on the

infamous wall. He has rolled back his promises on health care already

after meeting with the president. For me personally it is a good

thing, because I don't want him to deliver on many other things he

about on the campaign Trail, and so I would like to see him soften his

position on Russia. I don't think we should declare that our article five

commitments inside the Nato alliance are connected to whether or not our

allies are spending enough on defence. So yes, I do hope that the

voice of reason prevails, and that when these folks get into the chair

and prepare to govern, they are faced with the reality of managing a

very complex national security environment, and things are going to

look a lot different is once they get into that White House. John, I

want to look at that voice of reason in the detail. David Duke, former

leader of the KKK, said that Jeff Sessions must stop the massive race

discrimination against whites. Are you happy that these people who are

tweeting these kinds of statements are now representative of your

government? It is unbelievable, Emily, that you would bring that up,

and I disagree totally with Julianne, we will get to that of a

second. You can find complete idiots like David Duke who is a

reprehensible character, who Donald Trump has disavowed a thousand

times, he wants to put out a tweet, I don't care what he says. What

about Mike Flynn, he tweeted that fear of Muslims is rational. These

people have nothing to do with the campaign. He is the new national

Security adviser. That is Michael Flynn. He said fear of Muslims is

rational. He said that in February. And that tweet was accurate at the

time based on the fact that some Muslims had come in to San

Bernardino, they were not properly vetted and they blew 30 people away

at a Christmas party. This is a tough time in America. We have the

same thing going on at a gay bar in Orlando, so that was justified at

the time. But to bring up David Duke is ridiculous. It was before

Orlando, actually. You wanted to bring in Julianne. Julianne, do you

accept that this is a failure I Democrats, that if this is what

America has chosen, then Obama's priorities with Cuba and Iran were

the wrong ones. Identix that at all. Let me remind everybody that Hillary

Clinton did win the popular vote, so this was not to me an indication of

a sweeping mandate. I think again when you see the Trump team settle

into their seats, just wait. We can have this conversation in a couple

of months. They will go soft on a lot of these things. They will

understand the benefits we get from our Iran deal, our friends in Israel

and abroad and why they support the Iran deal, why it makes us safer.

They will deal with the complexities of China active in the South China

Sea, a resurgent Russia aggressively trying to divide Europe from the

United States. When they are faced with this very Comdex agenda, I have

a feeling you are going to CH Ainge intone. Look at what we have seen

already since the election. There has been a tremendous softening

opposition. John? There is no softening of position whatsoever. He

is going to build a wall just like he said he is going to do. Now he is

saying a fence. It is going to be a wall! You can read into anything you

want. He hasn't been in office yet. If you look at the number of people

that he has nominated or appointed to key staff positions, they are

wholly consistent with his position. What you are doing in his Washington

elite doublespeak, that is what people rejected, that somehow this

is complex. One last question to both of you. Do you think America's

allies need now to be concerned about the kind of world we are

entering and whether we will remain allies in it? Julianne? Yes, they

should be worried. They should be worried that you have a president

coming into office who is questioning the overarching value of

our global network of alliances. Russia and China wished they had a

network of alliances and partners like we did, and guess what, when we

are in the soup, the first people we call our our allies in Europe. For

Donald Trump to call into question the Nato alliance is unbelievable,

and I think our allies, particularly in Europe also other corners of the

world, should be very concerned by his comments on nuclear

nonproliferation, the way in which he is waving around America First.

It is an unbelievable stance to take on Nato, John? I think eventually

our allies across the globe are going to understand what a

compelling president this is going to be. He is going to put America

first in everything he does, and that will be a little bit different.

Nato was constructed when we had the Iron Curtain, it is outdated and

needs to be restructured. People that are not paying their share

should be paying their fair share, that is the way the world works. I

think Donald Trump is going to look for alliances that make sense. He is

going to wipe out ices, and I think the allies are going to look at him

as a beacon of freedom for the world. We will have to come back to

you both at some point. Thank you both very much indeed for joining

us. It was in her first

speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street back

in July that Theresa May turned her focus on an economic

group she referred to those people But that, in the age of Twitter,

wasn't short enough And with the reudctionist speed

of a Thick Of It satire, the phrase got sliced

to three letters, or Jam. All politicians have attempted

to speak to this demographic - alarm clock Britain, the scrimpers

and savers, squeezed middle - the ten million or so adults

who make up a good proportion So does the Jam grouping

mean anything different? Ahead of next week's Autumn

statement, the first big set piece test of the Government's policies

post the Brexit vote, we ask what capacity the Government

actually has to spend. # Pump up the jam #.

Theresa May told us who she was for even before she told us what you was

going to do. You have a job but you don't always have job security. You

have your own home but you worry about paying the mortgage. You can

just about manage but you worry about the cost of living and getting

your kids into a good school. The government I lead will be driven not

by the interests of the privileged few, but by jewels. We will do

everything we can to give you more control over your lives. -- but by

jewels. Just about managing rapidly became

known as the jams. They are only the latest expression of a common

political theme. In the US presidential elections we've had

forgotten Americans. At the last UK election we had Ed Miliband's

squeezed middle. And what ever happened to Nick Clegg's alarm clock

Britain? And when he was Prime Minister Gordon Brown could not open

his mouth without the words hard-working families come tumbling

out. But does any of this mean anything beyond politicians trying

to get sweet with swing voters? There is certainly a good reason why

the government is appealing to just managing families, these low-income

working families. A combination of the effects of the economic

downturn. And particularly large increases in housing costs mean the

disposable ink runs in this group haven't risen over a decade. --

disposable incomes. This group is right to feel the government should

be doing something about them. And the government is right to appeal to

them. How do we engage with this demographic? First is finding out

who we are talking about... This has been brilliantly satirised by The

Thick Of It. They are normal citizens but they have one specific

quality that makes them like that. The quiet back people. The quiet

that people? That is the general area we are looking at. Unlike the

quiet at people are just about managing have been making a lot of

noise politically during 2016. There is a huge body of people. They are

overwhelmingly the people who chose to leave the EU. Their equivalents

in the US voted for Donald Trump in large numbers. Who are in work. Few

areas -- in areas which were once industrial and have now declined.

They are struggling. They are trying very hard but not getting much of

the social product. The desire on the part of the Theresa May

government to try and twist the reward towards them a little is

sincere. It is excruciatingly difficult to

achieve. Next week's Autumn Statement is when

we have been told that the government will start delivering for

the JAMs. But it is expected the Chancellor will have to win out an

extra ?100 billion of borrowing for the coming five years. So what could

Philip Hammond do? The previous Chancellor has taken money out of in

work benefits which go to working families. Lots of the just managing

are on these benefits and restoring some of those cuts at a cost of

around ?3 billion would be really targeted to the just managing. It

would boost incomes around the bottom half of the distribution. For

single parents after about ?3000 per year. Of things could be done for

them in next week's Autumn Statement as well as the longer term things

like infrastructure and investment which will really help them. Pumping

up the just about managing in speeches is simple. After rule, jam

tomorrow is the easiest political promise varies. But actually helping

this group, especially these more difficult economic times, looks like

a far stickier problem. And we have our own late-night

quirk. I want to start with something

dishonest reporting. We haven't had confirmation. But it is a freeze in

fuel duty which was meant to come in next year. -- I want to start with

something The Sun is reporting. I'm not surprised. Every time that has

come up it is monumentally expensive, by the way, because the

Treasury bills into their forecast that they will receive revenue that

they will have to then freeze and not get. It is very unpopular and

very expensive to raise fuel prices. People use it to get to work.

Previous governments have wanted to do that and bowed out at the last

minute thinking if we do that it will be immediate and unpopular so

they don't. We know this group of people, whether they are the

squeezed middle, the alarm clock Britain, we've been through the

names, do you hear anything different this time? Is there

something concrete you would change in this Autumn Statement? I don't

think I'm hearing much difference. The political strategy seems to be

the one that has gone before, which is slogans rather than actual

solutions. So these just about managing people, two practical

things I'd like to see happen in the Autumn Statement, which I think

would help people, childcare is something which is a huge issue. The

government hadn't been able to make good on their promise of 30 hours of

childcare. I would like to see something tangible on that. As well

as high-quality nursery supervision. And at the other rendered the family

-- at the other end of the family spectrum, money needs to go to

elderly care. Money has been cut from social care. These are

practical things the government should be thinking about. They are

trying to position themselves away from Cameron. If I were them I

wouldn't go ahead with this cut inheritance tax, either. It's a

credible wish list. Essentially, is there any capacity, in a post Brexit

vote world, with the OBR predictions as they are, to do anything? We are

talking about what the state can do for those people. In the long term

the only possible solution for the middle of the country cannot be

redistribution. Because who will pay for that? It'll be the middle. They

cannot redistribute money to themselves. They could use their

priorities like the inheritance tax. You can have certain changes. At the

margin you can do that. You want to try and lift the income of those

people by helping them add value to the economy. That means you've got

to make the industrial strategy work. You've got to make places

outside London... Britain has one big city. If you have one big city

the people in it will do OK. So that means growth not welfare? It does

not mean I'm not in favour of welfare. I think the longer term

drive needs to be about growth. Because they are a new

Administration I think the tone is really important. Take the welfare

issue. The cuts coming down the track on universal credit are going

to hurt as the woman in your BT said. People who are really trying

to do the right thing, you know, the hard-working families playing by the

rules. -- in your VT. The Tories are really vulnerable on this. We cannot

say at the same time, for me for example, an important issue for me

is court 's rights. People having the right to take their case to

court. We've also seen that the NHS is under strain. Also we cannot

spend money on everything. It cannot be our solution to say each time

this is too painful, we can't make it, because we are borrowing too

much money. I think now after Brexit things will grow slower over the

medium term to a point where we are borrowing even more money. Surely

benefit is where the government is going to look most vulnerable. Do

you want to represent a government that is cutting... The move towards

increasing the living wage was the right thing to do. I don't think you

can allow the welfare bill to keep increasing. Because we can't afford

to do that. Otherwise we have to borrow too much. It's hard to know

what you are in favour of. The Labour Party isn't -- is in a

difficult position. The Conservatives have changed their

economic strategy. They admit they have not hit their target on the

deficit. Going back to the stuff we have heard tonight so far, you know,

Trump, Brexit, the dissatisfaction that everyday people feel, that

their lives are not getting any better, this is a new

Administration, a clean sweep. And I think signals are important. Thus

Philip Hammond have to be any thing other than boring? None of this

creates new money. If we are borrowing a large sum of money at

the end we will have to pay that back. We will have to reduce the

amount we are borrowing by a certain amount each year. What is your

opinion? If we depart from that path it'll only be for a short period and

we will have to get back to it... You have Brexit as a backdrop. Even

Philip Hammond said nobody voted to be poor. They have to care about

those people and make sure they do not send the wrong message. Thank

you both very much. Let's go back to the election

of Donald Trump now. Historians will try and deconstruct

this moment of 2016 But when they look at Trump's

successful campaign A builder convinced

he was a man of the people? Or a celebrity who harnessed his

fame to win the ultimate Perhaps when the dust has settled

we will realise something as phenomenal as it is shocking,

that in 2016 celebrity finally became the most

powerful tool of all. Prized above experience,

prized above competence, prized above just about everything

you can imagine. Donald Trump harnessed reality TV

and then the media - And through that,

the White House itself. Stephen Smith has been off

to question the very model # I love the looks of you

# I'd love to make a... #. They are getting the President-elect

ready for his close-up at Madame Tussaud's. Fun fact, his luxurious

hair is sourced from yak's hair. We like celebrities so much we will

queue in the cold just for a selfie with their effigies. Like the tasty

snacks in a gift shop, Donald Trump was the guilty pleasure boaters

could not say no to. -- voters. When it came to celebrities, Donald Trump

made a virtue of the fact that hardly anybody wants to be seen with

him. Did he even get his chauffeur's vote? I'm Donald Trump and I'm

always on the lookout for talented people. I'm looking for someone who

is a natural leader. Perhaps the -- he clinched victory through TV. The

celebrity reckoned it helped. Why do you think he won? The assumption was

he probably wouldn't in the end. Hillary Clinton had all of the

experience, she had all of the various celebrities backing her for

what that's worth. I can comment on something I am sort of an expert at.

Donald Trump is much better on camera. He is really good at

delivering lines. I supported Hillary. But she is not as talented

a performer. You think that was decisive? I think actually every

time in the presidential elections the winner is whoever is best at

delivering lines on camera. So it probably wasn't as much of a

surprise to you than it was to other people? It was a surprise. I thought

something would break this time. Ladies and gentlemen, the next, and

first female president of the United States, Hillary Clinton! No, there

has not been a recount, why didn't Mrs Clinton's Star supporters like

Jennifer Lopez help her over the line? Academics are doubtful about

the impact of celebrity endorsement. Even though Mrs Clinton did trot out

all of those celebrities, they were essentially windowdressing for her

campaign. They were not going to be the ones who were actually in

contention to run the government. So I think when all said and done,

Donald found himself acting as if he was in the ultimate reality TV show.

And using all of the techniques he has honed over the years on all of

those years on The Apprentice. At Madame Tussaud's and they keep their

TV stores that their outpost in Blackpool and their world leaders

and politicians here in London. While they might need to review

their display criteria now Donald Trump is waxed spectacular.

Stephen Smith - and his full interview with actor

Joseph Gordon Levitt, talking about the film Snowden

That's just about it from us tonight, save for the fact that

today marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the Battle

of the Somme, the six month inferno which was bloodier for British

troops than any other of the First World War.

By its end more than 420,000 British soldiers lay dead, wounded

or missing with only six miles of land seized from the enemy.

In 2014 a treasure trove of photographs, taken of troops

on their days off at a local town, was discovered.

There they paid a few Francs to send a photo home to their loved ones,

documented in Ross Coulthard's "The Lost Tommies".

We leave you with just a few of those images.