President Obama to Meet With President-Elect Trump Thursday
President-elect Donald Trump missed his predecessor’s first call early Wednesday morning, but quickly called President Barack Obama back to “discuss the election results and what steps we can take as a country to come together after this hard-fought election season,” according to a White House statement.
Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said her boss would likely meet with Obama on Thursday. They will discuss the transition process, which the White House said has been underway on the Obama administration’s part for more than a year.
Ensuring a smooth transition was the theme of the president’s Rose Garden speech regarding the election Wednesday:
We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country. …
It is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences. But remember, 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 so that we could hit the ground running. …
So I have instructed my team to follow the example that President Bush’s team set eight years ago and work as hard as we can to make sure that this is a successful transition for the president-elect. …
Everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we’re actually all on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We’re not Democrats first. We’re not Republicans first. We are Americans first. We’re patriots first. We all want what’s best for this country.
