Trump reverses self, says ‘Obama transitioning smoothly’

Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday reversed himself hours after complaining on Twitter that outgoing President Barack Obama was constituting “roadblocks” to a smooth transition of power.

The President-elect had tweeted that there had been “many inflammatory statements” and “roadblocks” made by Mr. Obama.

“Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President Obama statements and roadblocks.

“Thought it was going to be a smooth transition – NOT!” Trump had tweeted.

However, the incoming president, in a remark to journalists later on Wednesday, said the transition into the White House was going “very, very smoothly”.

The president-elect also disclosed to reporters that he received a phone call from Mr. Obama, adding that they had “a very nice time”.

“Oh, I think (the transition is going) very, very smoothly. It’s very good. You don’t think so?”

“He (Obama) phoned me. We had a very nice conversation.

“We had a very general conversation. Very, very nice. Appreciated that he called,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump also told reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago residence that he and Mr. Obama “had a good talk about things”.

“He (Obama) was in Hawaii. It was a very nice call and I actually thought we covered a lot of territory.

“Our staffers are getting along very well. And I’m getting along very well with him, other than a couple of statements that I responded to and we talked about it and smiled about it.

“And nobody is ever going to know because we’re never going to be going against each other in that way. It was a great conversation,” Mr. Trump said of the call with Mr. Obama.

The White House also confirmed that Mr. Obama called Mr. Trump from Hawaii, where Mr. Obama is on vacation with his family.

The White House described the call as “positive” and focused on “continuing a smooth and effective transition”.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Mr. Obama’s other calls with Mr. Trump since the election had also been positive.

Mr. Schultz said Messrs. Obama and Trump agreed that their teams would keep working together until the Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2017.

(NAN)