Unhappy President Barack Obama shakes Donald Trump, President-elect
Obama told reporters that if Trump succeeds, America succeeds at a White House meeting that encapsulated the stunning political events of the last few days since the President-elect’s remarkable election victory.
Trump said he would seek Obama’s counsel as president and Obama promised his full cooperation in the transition period.
Obama said the two men talked about foreign policy and domestic policy and said he was encouraged by Trump’s interest in working together during the transition.
“As I said last night, my No. 1 priority in the next two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President-elect is successful,” Obama said.
Obama told Trump: “If you succeed, the country succeeds,” as the two men sat in high-backed chairs in front of the fireplace in the Oval Office.
Trump thanked Obama for the meeting which he said had originally been scheduled for 10 minutes and said it could have gone on much longer.
“Mr President, it was a great honour being with you and I look forward to being with you many, many more times,” Trump said.
The President-elect also said he would seek “counsel” from Obama.
As the pool of reporters were led out, Trump told them several times that Obama was “a very good man.”
The President-elect’s first visit to Washington as the President-elect began around 10:30 a.m. when the plane emblazoned with his last name landed at Reagan National Airport, marking a new beginning for America.
Trump is also scheduled to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell while in town. He is traveling with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who will meet Vice President Joe Biden.
The Trump-Obama meeting was unexpected just days ago. The core of Trump’s campaign was his claim that Obama is incompetent. Obama, meanwhile, had mocked Trump on the campaign trail.
But in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s results, Trump and Obama have both sought to set politics aside ahead of the transition.
Trump struck a magnanimous tone first, praising rival Hillary Clinton — who he had said on the campaign trail he would imprison — during his election night speech.
“We owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country,” Trump said, complimenting her long history of public service.
He also reached out to those who hadn’t voted for him.
“I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all of Americans, and this is so important to me. For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country,” Trump said.
On Wednesday, Obama also recognized Trump’s victory, and said he plans to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
“We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,” Obama said. “The peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. And over the next few months, we are going to show that to the world.”
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