Trump has kind words for President Obama during his trip to Washington
Today President – elect Donald Trump came to Washington and he began the first step of his transition. News Talk Florida has learned that the “official transition team,” will move from New York to Washington on November 21st.
His day began with a very cordial with President Barack Obama and the two met together for 90 minutes. The two men met at the White House and President Obama called the 90-minute meeting “excellent,” and Trump said he looked forward to receiving the outgoing president’s “counsel.”
Afterward, Obama said to Trump, “We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed the country succeeds.”
The two men, who have been harshly critical of each other for years, were meeting for the first time, Trump said. The Republican said he looked forward “to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel.”
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Obama blasted Trump throughout the campaign as unfit to serve as a commander in chief. Trump spent years challenging the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency, falsely suggesting Obama may have been born outside the United States.
But at today, the two men appeared to put aside their personal battle. As the meeting concluded and journalists scrambled out of the Oval Office, Obama smiled at his successor and explained the unfolding scene.
First lady Michelle Obama also meet privately in the White House residence with Trump’s wife, Melania, while Vice President Joe Biden prepared to see Vice President-elect Mike Pence later Thursday.
After the meeting at the White House President-elect Trump spent most of the early afternoon first with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to discuss the GOP legislative agenda. Ryan, who holds the most powerful post in Congress, was a sometime critic of Trump, was slow to endorse him and did not campaign with the nominee. Pence intended to join both meetings.
As scores of journalists waited to be admitted to the Oval Office to see Obama and Trump together, they saw White House chief of staff Denis McDonough walking along the South Lawn driveway with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. A handful of Trump aides trailed them as they enjoyed the trip to Washington.
Trump’s small 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 Washington Bureau of 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.
While in Washington,Trump was expected to talk with Speaker Ryan about some of the staff being considered 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 he was told today in Washington about his new schedule of the same daily intelligence briefing as Obama — one that includes information on U.S. 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.
After meeting with Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell before leaving Washington, President-elect Trump had a few brief words.
“A lot of really great priorities. People will be very, very happy. Well, we have a lot,” Trump said after meeting with McConnell and Ryan. “We’re looking very strongly at immigration, we’re going to look at the borders, very importantly, we’re looking very strongly at healthcare and we’re looking at jobs. Big league jobs.”
Asked if he would work with Congress to ban Muslim immigrants, a key campaign priority, Trump walked away.
“Thank you everybody,” he said.
He’ll enter the White House owning his own private jet as well as a new Washington hotel just blocks away on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Some of the content used in this story came from the Associated Press.