WASHINGTON: Facing the enormous task of assembling a new government, President-elect Barack Obama yesterday closeted himself in Chicago for his first presidential-style intelligence briefing before moving into the White House in 10 weeks.

He planned his first public appearance since his presidential victory for Friday — a meeting with economic advisers to discuss the nation’s financial troubles, which Americans listed as their top concern on election day.

Obama plans to talk to the news media after the meeting, aides said.

He and his wife, Michelle, will visit the White House on Monday at the invitation of President George W. Bush, aides said.

His new government faces massive challenges both at home and abroad, as evidence made clear on the first days after his historic victory over Republican John McCain in Tuesday’s election.

The US stock market greeted his elevation to the pinnacle of American power by plunging nearly 500 points Wednesday on more dire news about an economy in the throes of its worst crisis since the 1930s Great Depression. It fell further yesterday.

The president-elect was quick out of the starting blocks, calling on Rep. Rahm Emanual, a fellow Chicago politician, to serve as his chief of staff. Emanual has accepted the position, a Democratic aide said yesterday.

Emanual was a political and policy aide to Clinton before he turned to investment banking. He then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. In Congress, he moved quickly into the leadership. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.

Emanual maintained neutrality during the long primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama.

Other White House officials were being lined up, including Robert Gibbs as the likely pick for press secretary, said several Obama aides.

Gibbs has been Obama’s longtime spokesman and confidant and was at Obama’s side from his 2004 Senate campaign through the long days on the presidential campaign trail.

Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so that he and his staff can get some rest after a grueling campaign and the emotional rush of their win Tuesday night. He is planning a trip to Hawaii in December to get away with his family before they move to the White House — and to honor his grandmother, who died Sunday at her home there.

In offering the post of White House chief of staff to Emanual, Obama turned to a fellow Illinoisan with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination.

At the White House, President Bush pledged to do all he could to ensure a smooth transition during the 11 weeks before Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.

“Over the next 75 days all of us must ensure that the next president and his team can hit the ground running,” Bush said during a ceremony with members of his executive staff. “In coming weeks, we will ask administration officials to brief the Obama team on ongoing policy issues, ranging from the financial markets to the war in Iraq.”

The need to begin putting together a strategy for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and concern that Al-Qaeda may try to test a new administration might also lend some urgency to assembling the national security team quickly.

The Bush administration has said it would do all it could to ensure Obama had access to all key national security information.

“We know that Al-Qaeda and others will try to test a new administration,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. “I don’t know of anything specific but we do know that this is a heightened period of concern.”