The Note: The Business of Trump

— -- NOTABLES

--HOW TRUMP'S BUSINESS INTERESTS COULD POSE CHALLENGES FOR INCOMING APPOINTEES: President Elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development – retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson – will now oversee one of the largest federally-subsidized affordable housing projects in the country – and it is part owned by his new boss. The development is called Starrett City – a massive low-income mini-city in Brooklyn that has generated millions in rental income for Trump, who inherited an ownership stake in the project from his father Fred Trump. With 46 buildings and more than 5,000 apartments, Starrett City is the beneficiary of substantial federal aid through rental support programs overseen by HUD. And it will soon be one more item on the list of financial entanglements that Trump will bring with him to the White House in January. ABC’s MATTHEW MOSK notes. http://abcn.ws/2gBIm2I

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: The president’s business is the nation’s business, and that makes the president-elect’s actions everyone’s concerns. Just a layer beneath the excitement surrounding Donald Trump’s early (and self-proclaimed) apparent successes in keeping jobs and encouraging investment rest some downright scary implications for the business community, not to mention US foreign relations. We can’t yet know Trump’s reasoning for waking up on a Tuesday morning in early December to threaten Boeing with the loss of its Air Force Once contract. But the fact that it came within hours of Boeing’s CEO being quoted chiding Trump for his trade agenda should concern the business and political communities. Ditto the almost-presidential seal of approval Trump put on the Carrier decision last week and SoftBank’s announcement Tuesday of a major American investment. These are major American corporations, with billions of dollars of interests that intersect with multiple sectors of the federal government, and with complex global relationships. Trump is Tweeting through all of that – with no indication, yet, that his actions are tied in with a broader strategy.

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’S JONATHAN KARL:  As President-elect Donald Trump puts together his White House team and makes his cabinet picks, he’s tapped governors, business executives and retired military officers, but there’s one group largely absent from the President-elect’s appointments so far: long-time Trump loyalists. With the exception of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, who supported Trump early and landed the nomination for attorney general, Trump’s most high-profile political supporters during the campaign -– Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich -– are all, at least for now, without any known role in the incoming Trump administration. The same is true for those who ran Trump’s campaign during the first months of the Republican primary.  Until Trump started winning primaries, his campaign was run by a small band of dedicated loyalists. So far, none of them have been publicly offered jobs in the administration. MORE: http://abcn.ws/2gBNvrt

SPEED READ with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY

TRUMP, AGAIN, THREATENS TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST FLAG BURNERS. The President-elect, returned to the trail Tuesday night in the second stop on his "Thank You" tour -- introducing his defense secretary pick, Marine Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis to a crowd in North Carolina. During the rally, he touched on a wide range of topics, but focused much of his energy on the military and patriotism just a few miles from Fort Bragg, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH and BENJAMIN SIEGEL note. Trump once again appeared to take aim at those who would burn the American flag, saying that he would determine what should be done. http://abcn.ws/2g87wtH

GENERAL EMERGES AS STRONG CONTENDER FOR HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY. Retired four-star Marine Gen. John Kelly, the former head of U.S. Southern Command, who has met with president-elect Trump several times in recent weeks, has emerged as a strong contender for secretary of homeland security, ABC News has learned. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has been another contender. Kelly's name was confirmed by multiple senior Trump transition sources as garnering serious consideration. ABC’s TOM LLAMAS, JONATHAN KARL and SHUSHANNAH WALSHE report. http://abcn.ws/2hfh3iP

MIKE FLYNN JR. FORCED OUT OF TRUMP TRANSITION AMID FAKE NEWS CONTROVERSY. The Trump team said Tuesday that Michael Flynn Jr. -- the son of Trump's national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn -- was forced out of the transition efforts amid controversy over a fake news story that he pushed on Twitter, ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS reports. "The younger Michael Flynn was helping his father with some administration and scheduling duties early on in the transition process," Trump team spokesman Jason Miller said, adding that he is "no longer involved with the transition efforts." The decision came from President-elect Donald Trump himself, two Trump transition officials said. Flynn Jr. is accused of pushing the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory in a flood of tweets Sunday and Monday, prompted by gunplay at Ping Pong Comet Pizza in Washington, D.C. http://abcn.ws/2heVRJA

MEN LEFT 'TO DIE': GEN. JAMES MATTIS' CONTROVERSIAL WARTIME DECISION. The former Marine general tapped to become Donald Trump's secretary of defense has been hailed as an "iconoclastic thinker" and a "warrior monk," but a decorated ex–special operations officer recently remembered him another way: as the commander who, he said, left soldiers "to die" in Afghanistan. Trump announced retired Gen. James Mattis as his pick for the next defense secretary Thursday, sparking a renewed interest in the blunt-talking Marine's history. The next day, a controversial incident from 15 years ago came under the spotlight in the form of a Facebook post by former Green Beret Jason Amerine, who won the Bronze Star for valor in Afghanistan. ABC’s JAMES GORDON MEEK and LEE FEERAN have more. http://abcn.ws/2gPvwAQ

IRANIAN PRESIDENT: IRAN WILL 'RESIST' ANY CHANGES TO NUCLEAR DEAL UNDER TRUMP. Amidst speculation that a Trump administration will dismantle the Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s president declared Tuesday that his country would “resist” any proposed change to the agreement. Hassan Rouhani, speaking at the University of Tehran, said that “Americans” will try to pressure Iran, but that his country will “resist this and find answers," note ABC’s ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN and JUSTIN FISHEL. http://abcn.ws/2hdo7Zh

DEMOCRATS WANT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO PICK UP TAB FOR TRUMP PROTECTION IN NYC. The NYPD has been providing additional security for Donald Trump in New York since Election Day to the tune of about $500,000 day -- and New York Democrats want the federal government to pay for it. Top New York City-area House Democrats appeared with NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller on Capitol Hill Tuesday to call on Congress to provide NYC with $35 million that he said will cover security expenses between Election Day and the inauguration. The figure covers the cost of extra officers assigned to cover Trump Tower, along with the overtime they accrue. ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL has more: http://abcn.ws/2hezsfI

BIDEN ON 2020 RACE: 'I'M NOT COMMITTING NOT TO RUN.' When asked if he would consider a run for the White House again, Vice President Joe Biden remained open to the possibility, writes ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. “I am going to run in 2020 for president. What the hell man, anyway,” Biden told a group of reporters on Capitol Hill Monday night, according to the Washington Post. When asked if he was joking, Biden said, "I'm not committing not to run. I'm not committing to anything. I learned a long time ago fate has a strange way of intervening." http://abcn.ws/2gMbasd

TRUMP MEETS WITH EXXONMOBIL CEO AS SECRETARY OF STATE SEARCH EXPANDS. Amid his broadening search for a secretary of state, President-elect Donald Trump met Tuesday with ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, according to a senior Trump transition officials. The Texas oil executive is under consideration for the U.S.'s top diplomat, the official said. The emergence of new names indicates that Trump may be conflicted about his shortlist and may be facing persistent division in his inner circle of advisers over the key choice, ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS reports. http://abcn.ws/2g6dBa6

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

TRUMP NAMED TIME'S 'PERSON OF THE YEAR.' President-elect Donald Trump said today it was "a tremendous honor" to have been chosen as Time magazine's "Person of the Year." "It's a great honor, it means a lot, especially me growing up reading Time magazine," Trump said this morning on the "Today" show. "But to be on the cover of Time magazine as the 'Person of the Year' is a tremendous honor." The cover of the magazine features Trump with the headline: "President of the Divided States of America." Trump called the headline "snarky," though he agreed the country is divided, according to ABC’s ALEXANDER MALLIN. http://abcn.ws/2gC3ciD

WHO’S TWEETING?

@EricLesser: How Trump won our Rust Belt. And how we win it back, via @BostonGlobe https://t.co/W40ZBVRfjC

@jeneps: Trump is fundraising for transition at Cipriani 42nd Street. About 900 guests inside, per aide. Tickets $5,000 each.

@ZekeJMiller: Clinton ally David Brock presses for a full-time DNC chair http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/12/06/clinton-ally-david-brock-presses-for-full-time-dnc-chair/ … via @WSJPolitics

@CraigCaplan: Def Sec nominee James Mattis today begins Capitol Hill visits day after his official announcement. Meets w/@SenateMajLdr in late afternoon.

@RumsfeldOffice: On this 75th anniversary of #PearlHarbor, we honor the legacy of those who lost their lives defending our nation.#PearlHarborRemembranceDay