President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump discussed the logistics of assuming responsibility for the sprawling operations of the administration during an “excellent” meeting Thursday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, but “didn’t try to resolve all their differences.”
“There was no staff in the room when President Obama and President-elect Trump sat down in the Oval Office for 90 minutes,” Earnest told reporters on Thursday. “I feel confident in telling you that they did not resolve all their differences.”
“I think when you consider the profound differences between the two gentlemen … I think that qualifies as excellent,” he added.
Earnest dismissed concerns that the meeting could have been “awkward” given the partisan rancor between Obama and Trump that played out on the campaign trail.
“It sounds like the meeting might have been at least a little less awkward than some might have expected,” he said.
The White House has spent the past two days assuring the public that the transition between the outgoing Obama administration and incoming Trump administration will be as seamless as possible.
Earnest said he had a chance to meet with Hope Hicks, Trump’s spokeswoman, during Obama’s private conversation with the president-elect.
The White House spokesman said staff had met with members of Hillary Clinton’s transition team as well as Trump’s in the weeks before the election.
