The most
powerful man in America and the one Americans elected to replace him met
at the White House this morning for the first time ever.
President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump talked for more than 90 minutes in the Oval Office while their wives visited separately.
A public display of unity intended to help the country digest the shocking results of Tuesday's presidential election, the president-elect called Obama a 'very good man'.
'I
very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future,
including counsel,' he said in a statement. 'He explained some of the
difficulties some of the high flying assets, some of the really great
things that have been achieved.'
The sitting president stressed that his top priority was 'ensure our president-elect is successful.'
'I
have been very encouraged by the interest in President-elect Trump to
work with my team around many of the issues that this great country
faces and I believe that it is important for all regardless of party and
regardless of political preferences to now come together, work together
to deal with the many challenges we face,' he said.
The
president-elect and the first lady in waiting, Melania Trump arrived at
the White House on Thursday morning through a back entrance that opens
up to the White House's South Lawn.
The
private drive is inaccessible to media, and reporters were disallowed
from covering the historic greeting between the incoming and outgoing
first families.
A
Wall Street Journal report says the White House cancelled the photo-op.
The president's spokesman forcefully pushed back on the assertion in
his daily briefing.
'That's not true,' he said.
The White
House official angrily told reporters that they were given more access
to today's events at the White House than they were in 2008, when the
Oval Office last changed hands.
Then, journalists were allowed to photograph the Obamas arrival at the White House.
President
George W Bush and his wife Laura gave the future first couple a warm
welcome when they came to the White House on November 11, 2008 for a
post-election briefing.
The
Bushes made a show of it, posing for portraits with the president-elect
and his wife in front of the White House's private entrance. Bush lined
up photographers to shoot he and Obama walking down the colonnade that
leads to the Oval Office.
That did not happen today. No official photos have been released of the Trumps' arrival or departure.
Mr.
and Mrs. Trump departed from LaGuardia airport in New York at 9.36am on
their way to Washington. Traveling in the billionaire's personal
aircraft, a Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name, they arrived at Ronald
Reagan National Airport just after 10.30am.
The
future first couple entered the White House complex twenty minutes
later. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, owner of the New York Observer
and a senior adviser to the president-elect's campaign, was also in
tow.
Kushner
was seen speaking to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and
Trump aide Dan Scavino. McDonough and Kushner broke off from the group
for a private meeting, raising new questions about the role that
Ivanka's husband will have in the Trump administration.
Kushner
acted a right-hand man to Trump and was instrumental in keeping Chris
Christie off the Republican ticket. Like his father-in-law, he is a real
estate mogul with a lucrative New York business.
Trump's
adult children, Ivanka, Eric and Don Jr., have said they would stay in
New York and run their father's business. Kushner's presence at the
White House today and his meeting with the current chief of staff
suggests a possible change of plans for the president-elect's eldest
daughter.
Journalists
were allowed into the meeting between Obama and Trump at the end for
what is known as a 'pool spray' – a photo opportunity where they
typically shout questions in hopes of getting a response. As they did
that today, Obama advised his successor not to respond.
Each man
delivered a short statement from the Oval Office that reporters were
invited to witness – a practice that was followed by this White House,
Earnest pointed out today, but was not part of the 2008 meeting between
Bush, a Republican, and Obama, a Democrat.
The
president spoke first, telling the press, 'I just had the opportunity
to have an excellent conversation with President-elect Trump. It was
wide-ranging. We talked about some of the organizational issues in
setting up the White House.
'We
talked about foreign policy and domestic policy. And as I said last
night, my number one priority in the coming two months is try to
facilitate a transition that ensures the president-elect is successful,'
he said. 'In the meantime, Michelle has had a chance to meet the
incoming First Lady and they had an excellent conversation as well. We
want to make sure they feel welcome as they prepare to make this
transition.'
The
president added, 'Most of all, I want to emphasize to you, Mr.
President-elect, that we now are going to do everything we can to help
you succeed because if you succeed then the country succeed.'
Hands
clasped, Trump looked around the room at the reporters gathered there
as Obama spoke. When the president finished, he turned his attention to
his predecessor , and said, 'Well, thank you very much, President Obama.
'This
was a meeting that was going to last for maybe ten, or 15 minutes, just
get to know each other. We had never met each other. I had great
respect. The meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half, and as far as
I'm concerned, it could have gone on for a lot longer,' he said.
'We
really, we discussed a lot of different situations—some wonderful, and
some difficulties,' he said. 'So Mr. President, it was a great honor
being with you, and I look forward to being with you many, many more
times.'
Following
the meeting, Trump senior adviser Dan Scavino tweeted: President
Obama's team was very welcoming & cordial to President-elect
@realDonaldTrump's team today at the White House. Thank you!!'
Trump
had two meetings on Capitol Hill after he finished with Obama. He's
lunching with House Speaker Paul Ryan House Speaker Paul Ryan
immediately after. Indiana Governor Mike Pence, the vice-president
elect, will join Trump at a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell after that.
Obama and
his wife, Michelle, fiercely challenged Trump as he campaigned for the
presidency, branding him a racist, a sexist and a sex abuser at events
for Hillary Clinton. Now they must come together with him and prove to
the country and the world that America is a shining example of a
functioning democracy.
Today's
meeting was expected to last an hour but it had not concluded at 12:30,
the start time of Trump's next meeting, with Ryan.
Ryan
says he wants to stay on as House Speaker despite his rocky
relationship with Trump. The GOP leader endorsed Trump this summer
before the nominating convention but rescinded his support after a video
emerged of Trump saying he uses his celebrity to grab women by the
genitals.
The
White House said Wednesday that the sitting president will press the
president-elect not to take an ax to all of his key policies.
The
current administration is especially concerned that Trump, who spent
the campaign promising to repeal and Obamacare, will cancel millions of
Americans' health insurance plans without a new mechanism in place.
The
White House is also terrified that Trump will immediately round up and
deport the illegal immigrant children they said could stay.
The
president-elect has been unclear how quickly he'll move on that aspect
of his agenda, though he says he will rescind the executive orders Obama
issued saying they could remain in the country indefinitely.
Outside
the White House Secret Service officers braced for the coming protests.
Riot gear and gas masks were on hand in case the confrontations became
violent.
Pennsylvania
Avenue and the adjacent park were overcome by construction in
preparation for the January inauguration. Workers were busy building
wooden risers on Thursday morning for the massive number of journalists
that will descend on Washington for the festivities. The bullet proof
viewing box for the VIPs and members of the new and old administrations
will soon be brought in as well.
Vice
President-elect Mike Pence is also visiting the White House today for a
2.30pm meeting with the outgoing Vice President Joe Biden.
In
a twist of irony, basketball player LeBron James of the Cleveland
Cavilers, was also meeting with the president today at the White House.
James and
his teammates are being honored for their NBA Championship. The
professional basketball player appeared with Clinton at a rally in the
final days of the race and encouraged his fans not to vote for Trump.
Ohio
Governor John Kasich came to Washington with his state’s sports team.
Kasich was the last remaining Republican presidential candidate in the
2016 race apart from the winner. Kasich boycotted the presidential
nominating convention in Cleveland over his differences with the
businessman. He refused to endorse Trump after the GOP primary and wrote
in John McCain on Election Day.
Unlike Trump, he held a brief news conference in front of the building before he departed.
'Today
I said my prayers on the plane for the success of Donald Trump,' Kasich
told the press. 'I think as Americans we all need to come together
because it's the lives of our children.'
Kasich observed that the country's problems 'won't be fixed overnight.'
'What
we can all do as Americans is join hands, join arms, say a few prayers
for the success of the next President of the United States,' Kasich
advised. 'I want to also compliment the president himself, President
Obama and also Secretary Clinton.'
The
outgoing president and the losing candidate 'were really inspirational
in the way in which they embraced the outcome of the election,' he said.
'So for those of you in the streets, think about the fact that America
works best when America is united. It doesn't work best when we are
divided. That's been my message and it will continue to be my message as
we move forward in this new time.'
He declined to comment on the possibility of burying the hatchet with Trump and joining his administration.
'I expect I'll be governor of Ohio for the next two years,' he said.
The
high-profile meeting between Obama and his successor set the White
House into a frenzy on Thursday. Staffers continued to mourn what could
have been under a President Clinton as they turned their focus to the
impending transition.
For
the first time in eight years the country will have a new president on
January 20, and he will come from the opposing political party.
In anticipation of a Clinton win, White House aides seemingly made no plans to hand over the keys Trump.
'There's
no specific thing that I have in mind that we're going to do
differently now,' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said after he
was asked by a reporter if the administration was building a 'firewall'
to protect Obama-era policies. 'Our plan all along was to ensure the
successful implementation of those and other priorities, and we're going
to be committed to doing everything we can to ensure the success of
those policies between now and January 20th.'
Trump
has said he will dismantle the Democratic president's health care law,
deport the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, negotiate the
12-nation trade deal brokered by the Obama administration and remand the
nuclear agreement with Iran.
Previewing
the meeting today between the president and the president-elect,
Earnest said Obama would talk to Trump 'about some of these policies and
about some of the benefits of some of these policies.'
'The
President-elect's team will have an opportunity to get briefed by the
national security experts here in the Obama administration that have
been working on implementing these policies. But, ultimately, the
President-elect will be the person that is responsible for setting the
path of foreign policy for the United States for the next four years,'
Earnest said.
The
anticipated show of civility at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue contrasted
with post-election scenes of protests across a politically divided
country.
Demonstrators
from New England to the heartland and the West Coast vented against the
election winner on Wednesday, chanting 'Not my president,' burning a
papier-mache Trump head, beating a Trump pinata and carrying signs that
said 'Impeach Trump'.
Republicans
were emboldened by Trump's stunning victory over Hillary Clinton,
giving the GOP control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
'He just earned a mandate,' Ryan said.
In an
emotional concession speech, Clinton said her crushing loss was 'painful
and it will be for a long time' and acknowledged that the nation was
'more divided than we thought.'
Still,
Clinton was gracious in defeat, declaring: 'Donald Trump is going to be
our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.'
Trump was uncharacteristically quiet in the aftermath of his triumph and made no public appearances Wednesday.
He
huddled with jubilant, sleep-deprived advisers at his eponymous
skyscraper in Manhattan, beginning the daunting task of setting up an
administration that will take power in just over two months.
He also met with Pence and took calls from supporters, family and friends, according to spokeswoman Hope Hicks.
In
Washington, Trump's scant transition team sprang into action, culling
through personnel lists for top jobs and working through handover plans
for government agencies.
A person
familiar with the transition operations said the personnel process was
still in its early stages, but Trump's team was putting a premium on
quickly filling key national security posts.
The person was not authorized to discuss details by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
According
to an organizational chart for the transition obtained by The
Associated Press, Trump was relying on experienced hands to help form
his administration.
National
security planning was being led by former Michigan Rep Mike Rogers, who
previously worked for the FBI. Domestic issues were being handled by
Ken Blackwell, a former Cincinnati mayor and Ohio secretary of state.
Trump
was expected to consider several loyal supporters for top jobs,
including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for attorney general or
national security adviser and campaign finance chairman Steve Mnuchin
for Treasury secretary.
Former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Tennessee Sen Bob Corker were also
expected to be under consideration for foreign policy posts.
As
president-elect, Trump is entitled to get the same daily intelligence
briefing as Obama - one that includes information on US covert
operations, information gleaned about world leaders and other data
gathered by America's 17 intelligence agencies.
The
White House said it would organize two exercises involving multiple
agencies to help Trump's team learn how to respond to major domestic
incidents.
If Trump makes good on his campaign promises, the nation stands on the brink of sweeping change in domestic and foreign policy.
He's
pledged to repeal Obama's health care law and pull out of the landmark
nuclear accord with Iran. He's vowed to build a wall along the US-Mexico
border and temporarily ban immigration from nations with terror ties.
It's unclear whether Trump will embrace many of the traditions of the presidency.
He'll
enter the White House owning his own private jet as well as a hotel
just blocks away on Pennsylvania Avenue. He never allowed journalists to
fly on his plane during the campaign, as is customary for White House
nominees.
Issues
of transparency bubbled up right from the start. On Wednesday evening,
Trump aides said they would not bring the press corps to Washington with
the president-elect for his meeting with Obama, breaking long-standing
protocol.
