President-elect Donald Trump arrived at the White House on Thursday to meet President Barack Obama, in the first public step of a transition of power after a bitterly fought election campaign.
Obama and Trump are to hold a brief photo opportunity in the Oval Office on Thursday morning. The full transition of power will officially take place on 20 January.
While acknowledging that he has had differences with President-elect Donald Trump, Obama asserted that he wanted a successful transition of power and invited him to come to the White House on Thursday.
Sometimes you lose an argument, sometimes you lose an election. But the path this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag.Barack Obama, President, United States of America
In the aftermath of a divisive election, Obama also called on Americans to move forward with good faith. Furthermore, he said he was proud of Hillary Clinton and called her a historic figure.
The two men have had almost no one-on-one contact previously. Trump, a Republican, led the "birther" movement that questioned Obama's US citizenship and has pledged to overturn the Democrat's signature policy achievements after he takes office on 20 January.
Obama campaigned vigorously for Trump's Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and called Trump both temperamentally unfit for the presidency and dangerously unprepared to have access to US nuclear codes.
Obama and Trump will seek to put their tensions behind them, at least for the cameras, during their Oval Office meeting.
First lady Michelle Obama will also meet privately with Trump's wife, Melania, in the White House residence.
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