President Barack Obama met with Donald Trump, his elected successor and longtime political nemesis, at the White House on Thursday to begin a whirlwind 10-week transition ahead of Trump’s inauguration in January.
The Oval Office meeting marked the first face-to-face conversation between the two men and the opening gambit in a transfer of power that is being watched closely across the globe.
During brief remarks to reporters, Obama referred to Trump as “Mr. President-elect” and sought to reassure the country that a smooth and orderly handoff was his administration’s top priority. Trump, sitting next to him in an armchair under a portrait of George Washington, also struck a magnanimous note and pledged to seek Obama’s counsel in the coming weeks.
“We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed,” Obama said, “because if you succeed, then the country succeeds.”
