President Barack Obama will host on Thursday a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House, in their first public step toward a peaceful transition of power after the Republican businessman's surprise election victory. The two men have had almost no one-on-one contact previously. Trump led the birther movement that questioned Obama's U.S. citizenship and has pledged to overturn the Democratic president's signature policy achievements after he takes office on Jan. 20
Obama campaigned vigorously for Trump's Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and called Trump both temperamentally unfit for the presidency and dangerously unprepared to have access to U.S. nuclear codes.
They will seek to put that history behind them, at least for the cameras, during a meeting in the Oval Office at 11 a.m. First lady Michelle Obama will also meet privately with Trump's wife, Melania, in the White House residence.
Obama said on Wednesday that despite his major differences with the New York real estate magnate, he would follow the lead of former Republican President George W. Bush in 2008 and ensure a smooth handover to Trump.
Eight years ago, President Bush and I had some pretty significant differences, but President Bush’s team could not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition, Obama said. So I have instructed my team to follow the example that President Bush’s team set.
Trump spent Wednesday focusing on that transition during meetings with his staff at Trump Tower in New York.
After taking office, he will enjoy Republican majorities in both chambers of the U.S. Congress that could help him implement his legislative agenda and scrap or roll back Obama policies that he dislikes, such as the Affordable Care Act, the nuclear deal with Iran and U.S. participation in the Paris agreement to fight global warming.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama would brief Trump about the benefits of those policies during their meeting.
There is a tradition, particularly with regard to executive agreements, of successive presidents preserving some element of continuity, Earnest said. I don't know whether or not that will fly in this case.
Trump said after his victory that he would work to heal the divisions set off by the bitter campaign. Clinton urged her disappointed supporters to give Trump an open mind and Obama said he was rooting for his successor.
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesI am pleased that he has both chambers. It was in Februay of 2009 that the GOP was bitching that there was no change in unemployment. I'll give him until December of 2017 to see the wall start, 25% (1/4 of his term) of the illegals deported, the coal mines digging again, steel mill jobs back in Pennsylvania (as he promised in his PA. rally two weeks ago, Ford and GM out of Canada and Mexico and back in the USA. As for a budget deficit, 9/16's is Obama's, after that Trump owns it. And....it was actually 25 million jobs that he promised. And, because he knows more then the generals, I would think he'll have the middle east carpet bombed and ISIS under the rug. In year two, let's see the the average American wage moves to.
Nov 10th, 2016 - 07:56 pm +6First and foremost the deportations and wall .....but, now we are hearing that the wall was a metaphor and not necessarily a physical wall.
David Duke is pleased as the clapp on a hookers vajayjay. In fact, he thinks the good old days are on the way back like the old fashioned Christmas when blacks where hung from tress and not lights.
Yeah........I'll give him a full year, more than the GOP gave Obama to see the YUUUUUUGE, improvement in the USA. Because, we all know that it will be a BEAUUUUUUTIFUL thing to see.
@ ChrisR You are more unhinged every day. Can't you find somewhere else to work out your issues with women? A psychiatrist's chair maybe?
Nov 11th, 2016 - 12:36 pm +6A concern for those of us living in this future:
Nov 11th, 2016 - 03:38 pm +6http://www.cbsnews.com/news/n-c-kkk-chapter-plans-trump-victory-parade/
The racists have come out of the woodwork in legions in the past 3 days, not to mention the spike in hate crimes. The slogan for them seems to be:
Make American great again and go back to Africa
In the south. It would be encouraging to hear Trump come out and quickly tweet that he has a zero tolerance policy for hate crimes and racism. But, despite whats happening.......nothing. Perhaps he will have David Duke as a special advisor to the problem and find a solution......a final one.
At least we have a president who finally knows more than the generals about fighting, I mean, afterall, he was a cadet in a military high school........hardly a match for West Point and the Citadel or VMI.
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