The Latest on the U.S. presidential transition (all times EST):
12:45 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump says he “very much looks forward” to dealing with President Barack Obama in the future.
Trump was meeting with Obama Thursday in the Oval Office. He called the meeting a “great honor.”
Trump noted that he and Obama haven’t met each other before. Their meeting lasted well over an hour.
President Barack Obama has met with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House. Obama said that they had an “excellent” and “wide-ranging” conversation.12:40 p.m.
Obama met with Trump in the Oval Office for more than an hour to discuss the transition of power.
Obama said he was encouraged by Trump’s wanting to work with his team on issues facing the country. He said it’s important for all “to now come together.”
Later, Trump will go to Capitol Hill to talk with congressional leaders about the Republicans’ legislative agenda for next year.
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12:30 p.m.
The Indiana governor’s office says Vice President-elect Mike Pence will complete his term in the state’s top office.
Pence spokeswoman Kara Brooks said Thursday that Pence will remain in office until his term ends Jan. 9. Pence will become vice president when President-elect Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20.
Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb won election Tuesday to succeed Pence. Holcomb on Wednesday left open the possibility of an early gubernatorial transition by saying that decision was up to Pence.
Pence was elected governor in 2012 after 12 years in Congress.
A rally to welcome Pence back to the state is set for Thursday evening on the grounds of Indianapolis International Airport.
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12:15 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump’s meeting with President Barack Obama has now lasted more than an hour.
The two were still meeting Thursday in the Oval Office as of noon. Reporters gathered by White House aides to witness the end of the meeting were waiting just outside the Oval Office, along the Rose Garden.
It’s unclear whether Obama and Trump will make substantive comments or just exchange pleasantries when reporters and photographers are allowed in briefly for the end of the meeting.
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11:50 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump has refused to let journalists travel with him to cover his first meeting with President Barack Obama.
The move broke from protocol intended to ensure that the public has a watchful eye on the nation’s leader.
Trump flew from New York to Washington on his private jet without the so-called “pool” of reporters, photographers and television cameras that travel with presidents and presidents-elect.
Trump’s meeting with Obama on Thursday was due to be reported by the pool of White House journalists who cover the president.
News organizations had tried for weeks to coordinate a pool of journalists who could travel with Trump immediately after Election Day if he won the election. But his campaign did not cooperate and his senior advisers refused Wednesday to discuss any such arrangements.
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11:40 a.m.
White House chief of staff Denis McDonough is taking a walk around the South Lawn driveway with President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The two are walking together while Trump and President Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office. A handful of other Trump aides trailed behind Kushner and McDonough.
Kushner is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and was one of his closest advisers during the campaign.
SOURCE: AP
President Obama says that if Trump succeeds, America succeeds, during White House meeting https://t.co/zI2jh3CewJ https://t.co/wRv3i3HhJ0
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) November 10, 2016
BREAKING: Obama says he was ‘encouraged’ by conversation with Trump, calls Oval Office meeting ‘excellent’ and wide-ranging.
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 10, 2016
President-elect Donald Trump joined President Barack Obama for their first meeting at the White House Thursday, a symbolic start to the transition of power to the nation’s 45th president.
Obama was harshly critical of Trump throughout the campaign, blasting him 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.
If Trump makes good on his campaign promises, he’ll wipe away much of what Obama has done during his eight years in office. The Republican president-elect, who will govern with Congress fully under GOP control, has vowed to repeal Obama’s signature health care law and dismantle the landmark nuclear accord with Iran.
First lady Michelle Obama was meeting 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.
Trump traveled to Washington from New York on his private jet, breaking with protocol by not bringing journalists in his motorcade or on his plane to document his historic visit to the White House. Trump was harshly critical of the media during his campaign and for a time banned news organizations whose coverage he disliked from his events.
Also on Trump’s schedule were meetings 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.
The anticipated show of civility at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue contrasted with postelection scenes of protests across a politically divided country. Demonstrators from New England to the heartland and the West Coast vented against the election winner on Wednesday, chanting “Not my president,” burning a papier-mache Trump head, beating a Trump pinata and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump.”
Republicans were emboldened by Trump’s stunning victory over Hillary Clinton, giving the GOP control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
“He just earned a mandate,” Ryan said.
In an emotional concession speech, Clinton said her crushing loss was “painful and it will be for a long time” and acknowledged that the nation was “more divided than we thought.”
Still, Clinton was gracious in defeat, declaring: “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”
In Washington, Trump’s scant 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 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.
Trump was expected to consider 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 is entitled to get 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.
If Trump makes good on his campaign promises, the nation stands on the brink of sweeping change in domestic and foreign policy. He’s pledged to repeal Obama’s health care law and pull out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran. He’s vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and temporarily ban immigration from nations with terror ties.
It’s unclear whether Trump will embrace many of the traditions of the presidency. He’ll enter the White House owning his own private jet as well as a hotel just blocks away on Pennsylvania Avenue.
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AP writer Jonathan Lemire in New York contributed to this report.
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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
SOURCE: AP