Obama and Trump met for the first time on Thursday, speaking with reporters in the Oval Office before holding a private conversation. While Obama detailed the scope of presidential duties, Trump’s aides discovered that the entire West Wing staff would have to be replaced when Obama’s administration ends. There are also reports that Trump appeared overwhelmed when he realized the range of presidential responsibilities, and Obama, sensing this, decided to give more counsel to the incoming president than usual.
The two men behaving so cordially is a far cry from the barbs they traded during the election. At a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Florida, Obama ridiculed Trump’s claims of the election being rigged, remarking, "when you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people's mind about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy. Then you are doing the work of our adversaries for them."
Trump has offered scathing criticism of Obama’s policies, both foreign and domestic, slamming the Iran deal and vowing to repeal all but a few provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called "Obamacare."
At a media conference in July, Trump called Obama "the most ignorant president in our history," adding the he was a "disaster" and would "go down as one of the worst presidents in the history of our country." according to Politico.
He recently named Stephen Bannon, right-wing publisher and chief executive of the Trump campaign, as his senior strategist and chief counsel, and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff.
Trump said in a statement that, "Steve [Bannon] and Reince [Priebus] are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again."
Trump is somewhat behind the usual pace of presidents appointing their staff, after an announcement of his "landing team," slated for Friday, was delayed following a leadership change. His transition team is scheduled to hold its first formal meeting on Monday.
