David Jackson, and Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

After a busy weekend interviewing job candidates, President-elect Donald Trump spent Monday in meetings to fill out his economic and national security teams. While his initial picks are a nod to immigration and national security hardliners, Trump held court with a wide array of potential picks that could moderate those appointments.

What's unknown is whether the meetings will lead to a diverse Cabinet or whether Trump will ultimately settle on additional loyalists like Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, whom he appointed as attorney general, and retired Army lieutenant general Michael Flynn, who will serve as national security adviser.

"We've made a couple of deals," Trump told reporters after a weekend of meetings with with no less than 21 job candidates at his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J.

Late in the day Monday, he released a “video message” to the American people outlining the core principle of his presidency — “putting America first” — and laying out executive actions he wants to take beginning on day ones, including scrapping regulations on energy production, withdrawing from trade agreements and "investigating all abuses of visa programs."

“Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, on our great homeland: America – creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” Trump says in the video, his first address since his acceptance speech on election night.

By posting the video on YouTube rather than making a personal appearance, he side-stepped follow-up questions and his aides could manage how he is portrayed, rather than relying on independent media to capture the footage they wanted shown.

“Our transition team is working very smoothly, efficiently, and effectively,” Trump said in the video. “Truly great and talented men and women, patriots indeed are being brought in and many will soon be a part of our government, helping us to make America great again.”

The meetings incoming presidents hold to consider Cabinet and senior administration posts are often done in complete secrecy so as to avoid potential embarrassment for those who are passed over. Yet Trump is a candidate who's rejected the norms of campaign tradition, so it's not surprising he may govern the same. His team is also trying to counteract a narrative that's developed in the past few days that he is rewarding loyalists versus selecting the most qualified candidates to fill his Cabinet. Allowing the media to document a diverse array of contestants could be beneficial to that end.

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What's unclear is whether he'll actually embrace a "team of rivals" approach by elevating his former foes. Trump had more meetings Monday, including one with Rick Perry. The former governor of Texas and ex-rival in the Republican primaries has been mentioned for a number of slots in Trump's Cabinet, including the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, and Agriculture. That's after a weekend meeting with the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, who was harshly critical of Trump during the entire election process but who is now reportedly under consideration for secretary of State.

The president also met with a fairly prominent Democrat: U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who backed Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries. A military veteran, Gabbard has been a vocal critic of VA medical services.

In a statement released Monday Gabbard said "while the rules of political expediency would say I should have refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will play politics with American and Syrian lives."

“President-elect Trump and I had a frank and positive conversation in which we discussed a variety of foreign policy issues in depth," Gabbard said. "I shared with him my grave concerns that escalating the war in Syria by implementing a so-called no fly/safe zone would be disastrous for the Syrian people, our country, and the world," Gabbard continued.

The uncertainty around Trump's goals for rounding out his circle of top advisers is punctuated by a lack of media access. Trump has been too busy to have a press conference since his election, said Kellyanne Conway, his campaign manager and senior adviser.

"He just has action-packed days filled with meetings. These days are overscheduled with meetings," Conway said, adding that Trump "works 18 hours a day interviewing people, taking calls from all around the world. He will take have a press conference in due course. And he will make his announcements for his Cabinet."

Also Monday Trump met with former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown. After the meeting Brown told reporters that he spoke with Trump about being head of the VA.

"He’s obviously going to take my application, or interest, under consideration. I’m glad that he called. He’s going to obviously meet other folks, and we should know, I would think, probably after Thanksgiving," Brown said. "I think I’m the best person, but there are some tremendous people out there and I don’t look at it as a competition."

Trump also met with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin who said she was not offered a position but that the meeting was just a start.

Other Monday meetings include former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a prominent pro-Trump spokesman during the campaign; and former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao (who is married to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell). The president is also scheduled to meet with officials of a border patrol union that endorsed him during the campaign. Trump also had an off-the-record meeting with television executives and anchors from the major networks.

The campaign is also pushing back on a series of stories about Trump continuing to hold business meetings during the transition, such as those with three Indian associates who flew in over the weekend to congratulate him. Conway said he was doing nothing wrong.

"Do you ask people how long they will play golf and do the transition?" she said. "Are you suggesting he is doing something illegal? I already said he is not. But the presumption is that he is," Conway said when asked how long the president-elect would continue to conduct business.

The Trump team still has some campaign clean-up to do.

The Federal Election Commission on Monday sent a letter to the Trump campaign organization listing pages of "excessive, prohibited, and impermissible" contributions. They came from individuals who made multiple contributions that added up to an excess of legal limits, unregistered organizations, or committees that were unqualified to contribute to presidential candidates.

The president-elect and his aides are also dealing with questions about how the New York businessman (and his family) should handle their business affairs during his presidency.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is heading up Trump's transition, has sat in on Trump's job interviews.

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Trump, who began announcing his team last week, had special praise for one of his candidates for secretary of Defense.

"General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, who is being considered for Secretary of Defense, was very impressive yesterday," Trump tweeted Sunday. "A true General's General!"

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Trump aides also promoted a new poll showing the his popularity has picked up since the election. According to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll of registered voters. 46% of voters now have a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the president-elect. That's up nine points from a similar poll taken right before Election Day on Nov. 8.

Trump's interviews over the weekend included at least two secretary of State candidates: Romney and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City major who became a top Trump surrogate during this year's campaign. Conway also noted that Trump has spoken with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., another possibility for the State Department.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, are developing a strategy to cope with the president, vowing to contest disputed nominees or policies. "On issues where our values are at stake, where the president goes in a divisive direction, where his campaign did before, we'll go against him and with everything we've got," said incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.. on NBC's Meet The Press.

The transition team also announced that Trump plans to spend Thanksgiving at his South Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

Contributing: Heidi M. Przybyla

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