Statecraft

Who is Donald Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus?

Reince Priebus's appointment as President-elect Donald Trump's chief of staff puts him at the power centre of the new Trump administration.

The 44-year-old Wisconsin political operative will help guard access to the President-elect, guide policy and political decisions, and if past practice holds true, will often be, along with chief strategist Stephen Bannon, the last person Mr Trump consults before making major decisions.

Mr Priebus has no governing experience in Washington.

Yet his extraordinary ability to build and maintain relationships with his party's power brokers and grassroots sets him apart from other prospective chiefs of staff.

The affable and slow-talking Mr Priebus maintains a particularly close relationship with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is also from Wisconsin.

At the same time, Mr Priebus may have been almost as popular among the Republican National Committee's 168 members, who represent many different factions of the GOP and come from every state in the nation.