Post by Trades on Nov 10, 2016 12:14:01 GMT -5
Way to help try to heal the country! Showing his true colors.
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama hosted President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday for a meeting intended to signal to Americans and the world that the bitter, personal attacks of the campaign have given way to a smooth transfer of power.
Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, arrived at the White House around 11 a.m. The president and president-elect will meet in the Oval Office, while Mrs. Trump and first lady Michelle Obama tour the White House residence, where the Trump family will live.
The meeting between a president and his successor is a longtime tradition. But this meeting is different given the sitting president has said his successor is unqualified and temperamentally unfit to serve in the White House and mocked his experience as a reality TV star. Mr. Obama said so as recently as Monday in his final campaign event for Democrat Hillary Clinton. On Wednesday White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president still believes Mr. Trump is unfit to succeed him but respects the outcome of the election.
The Obamas canceled a photo-op of the current and future first couples outside the south entrance of the White House. In his first visit to the White House after the 2008 election, Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama posed for the cameras alongside President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. The decision not to participate in this tradition illustrates how bitter the campaign was, particularly for Mrs. Obama who delivered some of the most emotional arguments against electing Mr. Trump.
Mr. Earnest said Mr. Obama would go through with Mr. Trump the policies he has implemented that he hopes his successor won't undo. But Mr. Trump is expected to attempt to unravel much of Mr. Obama’s legacy, with plans to reverse his policies on health care, climate change, immigration and government regulations, and to dramatically shift his foreign-policy approach.
For Mr. Trump, the meeting underscores that he is now relying on the administration of a man he has suggested wasn’t born in the U.S. and was therefore ineligible to serve as president. The president-elect was a leading proponent of the false accusation that Mr. Obama was born in a foreign country, prompting the president to release his full birth certificate in 2011.
Mr. Obama tried to demonstrate on Wednesday that the personal feud between him and his successor wouldn’t get in the way of the transition of leadership in the White House.
“It is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences,” Mr. Obama said. Nonetheless, Mr. Obama said he is “rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country.”
Vice President Joe Biden also will meet with his successor, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday at the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is scheduled to meet Messrs. Trump and Pence at the Capitol at 1:30 p.m.
Messrs. Obama and Trump were expected to meet for about an hour and will appear before reporters afterward.
Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, arrived at the White House around 11 a.m. The president and president-elect will meet in the Oval Office, while Mrs. Trump and first lady Michelle Obama tour the White House residence, where the Trump family will live.
The meeting between a president and his successor is a longtime tradition. But this meeting is different given the sitting president has said his successor is unqualified and temperamentally unfit to serve in the White House and mocked his experience as a reality TV star. Mr. Obama said so as recently as Monday in his final campaign event for Democrat Hillary Clinton. On Wednesday White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president still believes Mr. Trump is unfit to succeed him but respects the outcome of the election.
The Obamas canceled a photo-op of the current and future first couples outside the south entrance of the White House. In his first visit to the White House after the 2008 election, Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama posed for the cameras alongside President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. The decision not to participate in this tradition illustrates how bitter the campaign was, particularly for Mrs. Obama who delivered some of the most emotional arguments against electing Mr. Trump.
Mr. Earnest said Mr. Obama would go through with Mr. Trump the policies he has implemented that he hopes his successor won't undo. But Mr. Trump is expected to attempt to unravel much of Mr. Obama’s legacy, with plans to reverse his policies on health care, climate change, immigration and government regulations, and to dramatically shift his foreign-policy approach.
For Mr. Trump, the meeting underscores that he is now relying on the administration of a man he has suggested wasn’t born in the U.S. and was therefore ineligible to serve as president. The president-elect was a leading proponent of the false accusation that Mr. Obama was born in a foreign country, prompting the president to release his full birth certificate in 2011.
Mr. Obama tried to demonstrate on Wednesday that the personal feud between him and his successor wouldn’t get in the way of the transition of leadership in the White House.
“It is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences,” Mr. Obama said. Nonetheless, Mr. Obama said he is “rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country.”
Vice President Joe Biden also will meet with his successor, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday at the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is scheduled to meet Messrs. Trump and Pence at the Capitol at 1:30 p.m.
Messrs. Obama and Trump were expected to meet for about an hour and will appear before reporters afterward.
Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
