Mattis, top candidate for Pentagon chief

Trump, who was holding a series of meetings at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey with candi-dates for posts in his incoming administration, met on Saturday with Mattis and Mitt Romney, previ-ously a Trump critic who now is under consideration for secretary of state. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who launched his own unsuccessful bid for the Republican presi-dential nomination, will meet with Trump today and is being considered for Cabinet posts including defense, energy and veterans affairs positions, a source familiar with the meeting said. Trump told reporters he would likely have some announcements on top administration positions on Sunday but did not say which ones. Trump wrote on Twitter yesterday that “General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, who is being considered for Secretary of Defense, was very impressive yesterday. A true General’s General!”

US President Barack Obama said not moving forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact would undermine the US position across the Asia-Pacific region. He said he had heard calls for a less ambitious trade agreement that would exclude US workers and businesses at a news conference at the APEC summit in Peru, the last stop of his last scheduled trip abroad as president.