Gov Agencies Start Work With Trump Team

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the U.S. presidential transition (all times EST):

8:40 a.m.

The White House says President-elect Donald Trump's team will start working directly with federal agencies this week on the transition.

Trump's team will start getting briefings related to the Defense Department, State Department, Treasury Department and other agencies. The briefings will include budget details, flow charts for staff and other information.

Officials at those agencies will start speaking regularly to Trump team members to facilitate the handover of power in January. And Trump's team will start creating policy teams that will work out of government-provided offices near the White House.

The White House also says the Obama administration will host two "exercises" involving multiple agencies to help familiarize Trump's team with government practices and systems for responding to domestic emergencies.

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8:25 a.m.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he has not talked with President-elect Donald Trump about a role in the Trump administration.

Speaking on NBC's "Today" show Thursday, the Republican said he does not believe the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal will cloud his future.

Christie says he's not committed to doing anything in a new administration. He says his job is to get Trump through the transition and he'll talk with the president-elect if there's any job that Trump wants him to do.

Christie refused to say if he was interested in a specific job.

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8:05 a.m.

President-elect Donald Trump will meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan to talk about the Republicans' legislative agenda.

The meeting Thursday with be the first face-to-face between the men since Trump's surprising win. Trump and Ryan have had a tense relationship. Ryan did not campaign with Trump and has been critical of some of his policy proposals.

Trump has blasted Ryan as disloyal, "weak" and "ineffective."

A source familiar with the plans tells The Associated Press that Vice President-elect Mike Pence will also attend the lunchtime meeting. It will follow Trump's White House meeting with President Barack Obama.

The source asked for anonymity to discuss details before an official announcement.

7:55 a.m.

A top adviser to Donald Trump is dismissing post-election protesters as "a bunch of crybabies."

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was asked Thursday about protests in several cities following Trump's victory Tuesday.

There have been protests in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and elsewhere. Some demonstrators carried placards declaring "Not My President."

Giuliani said on Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" that most of the protesters are college-age students and seem to be "1 percent of 1 percent of 1 percent."

Giuliani said he would advise the president-elect to tell them to calm down and after a year, "you'll be living in a better country. If not, go cry then."

Giuliani is widely expected to get a major position in the Trump administration.

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7:45 a.m.

Don't expect Donald Trump to apologize for his "birther" campaign when he meets with President Barack Obama at the White House.

That's according to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has been overseeing the transition for Trump. The president-elect and Obama are meeting later Thursday. Christie was asked on NBC's "Today," whether Trump would apologize for his repeated comments casting doubts on whether Obama was born in the United States.

Christie said "I think that's all past us." He noted that Obama has made barbed remarks about Trump. He said: "That's politics though."

Asked if Trump's birther comments were "just politics," Christie said "everything is in the context of politics" --- though that doesn't mean Trump didn't believe what he was saying.

Obama was born in Hawaii.

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(KA)