U.S. President Barack Obama will host an awkward meeting
with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday 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.