White House official: Obama briefed on UK vote to bolt EU

With the days counting down until the end of his final term – 209 days, 17 hours, 36 minutes and 40 seconds, not that we’re counting – Obama has already said that he will remain in Washington so his younger daughter, Sasha, can finish high school.

Donald Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee who wants to succeed Obama, hailed the move, saying the British people have “taken back their independence” with a vote to leave the European Union.

The group at San Francisco’s Twenty-Five Lusk included John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman.

“The President has been briefed on the incoming returns in the United Kingdom referendum, and he will continue to be updated by his team as the situation warrants”, the White House said in a statement.

The official, who insisted on speaking anonymously because of the ongoing events overseas, said Obama was expected to speak with Prime Minister David Cameron “over the course of the next day”.

Britons voted 52% to 48% on Thursday to leave the EU.

Obama also warned that leaving the European Union would put Britain at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal with the United States.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told ESPN on Thursday that Obama had “discussed” the idea of joining an National Basketball Association franchise’s ownership group, but that it would only be an option “potentially under the right circumstances”. Trump, in Scotland to reopen a golf resort, was slated to give a news conference on the 9th hole at noon (7 a.m. ET/1100 GMT).