After last week’s stunning election outcome, President Obama swallowed his disappointment and met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The two took photos together and placed their respective insults behind them for the benefit of the American people. This was a magnanimous display albeit an awkward one, but Obama reportedly realizes that acclimating Trump to his new position will take time. Indeed, there’s not only the factor of Trump not having any governing experience, but he seemed as surprised as anyone that he won. (There’s a reason why John Oliver used the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme to illustrate the absurdity of the situation.)
Obama’s also apparently planning on taking Trump under his wing to a greater degree because, as the Wall Street Journal relays, Obama could sense that Trump felt completely out of his league during his crash course:
During their private White House meeting on Thursday, Mr. Obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country, and Mr. Trump seemed surprised by the scope, said people familiar with the meeting. Trump aides were described by those people as unaware that the entire presidential staff working in the West Wing had to be replaced at the end of Mr. Obama’s term.
After meeting with Mr. Trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, Mr. Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said.
The WSJ contacted Jason Miller (the Trump campaign communications head who’s doing the same in transition), and he didn’t want to comment on the above remarks but stressed that Trump has an “excellent judgment and temperament” that should smoothly transition from business to politics. Meanwhile, Trump made a huge fuss about “draining the swamp,” but he’s already filling his cabinet with one key political insider and probably more to come. And what choice does he have with no political experience of his own?
Regardless of what Trump does, let’s hope there are more Obama photo ops to come. If nothing else, the memes are fantastic.
(Via Wall Street Journal)