US President-elect Donald Trump chose Republican national committee chairperson Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and named Stephen Bannon, former head of the conservative website Breitbart News, as his chief strategist and senior counselor.

These were Trump's first important staffing decisions. The chief of staff is the highest-ranking employee in the White House.

"I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country," Trump said in a statement.

"Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory."

"Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again."

Priebus said: "I am very grateful to the president-elect for this opportunity to serve him and this nation as we work to create an economy that works for everyone, secure our borders, repeal and replace Obamacare and destroy radical Islamic terrorism."

Trump, who will take office on Jan 20 and succeed Democratic President Barack Obama, will also look to fill other top administration jobs in the coming weeks. Below are people mentioned as contenders for senior roles.

Secretary Of State

* Bob Corker, Tennessee senator and chairpersonn of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

* John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations under President George W Bush

* Newt Gingrich, Republican former US House speaker

* Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Iraq

Treasury Secretary

* Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican congressperson and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee

* Steven Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs executive and Trump's campaign finance chairperson

* Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer

* Tom Barrack, founder and chairperson of Colony Capital Inc

Defence Secretary

* Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

* Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under President George W Bush

* Jon Kyl, former Republican senator from Arizona

* Jeff Sessions, Republican senator from Alabama and early Trump supporter, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee

* Kelly Ayotte, outgoing Republican senator from New Hampshire and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee

* Duncan Hunter, Republican congressperson from California and early Trump supporter, member of House Armed Services Committee

* Jim Talent, former Republican senator from Missouri who was on the Senate Armed Services Committee

Attorney-General

* Rudy Giuliani, Republican former mayor of New York City

* Jeff Sessions, senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who takes a hard line on immigration

* Chris Christie, Republican New Jersey governor

* Pam Bondi, Republican Florida Attorney-General

* Trey Gowdy, Republican congressperson from South Carolina who headed the House committee that investigated the 2012 attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya

Health And Human Services Secretary

* Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon and 2016 Republican presidential candidate

* Newt Gingrich

* Rich Bagger, former pharmaceutical executive and former top aide to New Jersey governor Chris Christie

* Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana governor

Homeland Security Secretary

* Michael McCaul, US Republican congressman from Texas and chairperson of the House Homeland Security Committee

* David Clarke, Milwaukee county sheriff and vocal Trump supporter

* Joe Arpaio, outgoing Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff who campaigned for Trump

Head Of The Environmental Protection Agency

* Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute who is overseeing environmental policy on Trump's transition team

* Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors

* Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas attorney-general

* Carol Comer, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management Energy Secretary

* Harold Hamm, Oklahoma oil and gas mogul, CEO of Continental Resources Inc

* James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies and a former environmental adviser to president George W Bush

* Robert Grady

Interior Secretary

* Sarah Palin, Republican former Alaska governor who ran for vice-president in 2008

* Jan Brewer, former Arizona governor

* Forrest Lucas, founder of oil products company Lucas Oil

* Harold Hamm

* Robert Grady

Commerce Secretary

* Linda McMahon, former world Wrestling Entertainment executive and two-time Senate candidate Central Intelligence Agency Director

* Lieutenant General Michael Flynn

* Mike Rogers, Republican former congressman from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee

* Pete Hoekstra, Republican former congressman from Michigan

National Security Adviser

* Lieutenant General Michael Flynn

* Stephen Hadley

United Nations Ambassador

* Kelly Ayotte

* Richard Grenell, former spokesperson for the United States at the United Nations

* Peter King, Republican congressperson from New York

US Trade Representative

* Dan DiMicco, former chief executive of steel producer Nucor Corp Veterans Affairs Secretary

* Jeff Miller, retiring congressman from Florida and chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee

- Agencies