Trump discusses transition, plans for first 100 days

Trump, who has vowed to undo a number of initiatives Obama holds dear, appeared conciliatory toward the president whose US citizenship he had long questioned.

Speaking at a news conference to mark the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, Mr Obama reiterated that he would extend to Mr Trump’s incoming administration the same professional courtesy shown to his team by his predecessor George W Bush.

Oprah Winfrey took it to Twitter in a hopeful message about Donald Trump’s Presidency tweeting “Everybody take a deep breath” to send out her message of enduring dismay of recent presidential elections.

Obama pointed to the United States touchstones of democracy, an independent judiciary, engaged citizens, and a responsible press.

The message makes clear that Trump plans to embrace the use of executive actions to carry out numerous policies he campaigned on, sidestepping the need for congressional approval. Starnes asks, ‘How else could two inexperienced politicians who’d never led other politicians have become the most powerful men in the world?’ “And that requires constant work, it doesn’t just happen on its own”.

Mr Obama continued that people should take a “wait and see” approach to how the Republican’s policy proposals match up with his campaign rhetoric.

“Our transition team is working very smoothly, efficiently, and effectively”, he said, adding that his core principle would be “putting America first”. “And it means that you know, the outcomes of elections don’t always turn out the way you would have hoped”, Obama said.

“With respect to Latin America, I don’t anticipate major changes in policy from the new administration”, he said, citing trade as a key exception.

Obama called the four-minute conversation with Putin “candid and courteous”, which included discussions on Syria and Ukraine in which the President said he conveyed that he was “deeply concerned about the bloodshed and chaos that’s being sewn by constant bombing attacks by Assad and the Russian military”.

“I’ve said before, if these issues were easy, that ensuring prosperity, jobs, security, good foreign relations with other countries, if all that was simple, then it would have been done by every previous president”.

“You’re seeing some countries that are going backwards rather than forwards in terms of freedom of the press, in terms of freedom of the Internet, in terms of respecting political opposition and civil society”, Obama said on Saturday.

“Both state and non-state actors are getting better and better at it, and it is becoming more rapid”, Obama said.