WASHINGTONâ€"They had never met, and they had had only harsh words toward each other during the campaign. But President Barack Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, are discussing policy and politics with more frequency than many anticipated after this past year’s bitterly fought election.
The two men have spoken a handful of times by phone since their 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office last month, setting aside resentments that built up during the campaign, advisers to both said. Though it is hardly a “bromance,†both men see it in their mutual interest to stay in touch and forge a rapport during the transition, aides said.
On Friday, Mr. Trump said he has gotten along “so well†with Mr. Obama, and he dissuaded his supporters from booing when he mentioned the president’s name. “No, noâ€"he’s really doing great. He’s been so nice,†he told them at an event in Louisiana.
Mr. Trump has come to value Mr. Obama as one of only five living Americans who knows firsthand what it is like to be president and who can give a realistic assessment of the job, aides said. As he fills out his administration, Mr. Trump has called Mr. Obama to ask what specific positions entail so that he can match people to the job, they said.
The budding relationship hasn’t all gone smoothly. Though Mr. Trump has voiced flexibility when it comes to policy, he has placed in key positions some conservatives who want to roll back Mr. Obama’s initiatives on health care, immigration, the environment and labor.
And White House officials were irritated that Mr. Trump’s team didn’t forewarn them about his phone conversation with the president of Taiwan, which broke with decades of U.S. policy. The White House fielded calls from Chinese officials protesting that call and seeking guidance on Mr. Trump’s intentions.
Still, Mr. Obama views Mr. Trump as a pragmatic figure with no hard ideological leanings, aides said. The president’s conversations with Mr. Trump are largely aimed at trying to preserve pieces of his legacy that his successor’s administration might be looking to dismantle.
Mr. Obama has walked Mr. Trump through the details of some of his most noted foreign-policy achievements. He outlined to him the agreement with Iran aimed at restraining its nuclear program and what, in his view, are the pitfalls of backtracking on it. In one 45-minute phone call, Mr. Obama detailed what he sees as the upsides of maintaining U.S. relations with Cuba, the re-establishment of which has been one of Mr. Obama’s top priorities.
The president also has advised Mr. Trump on how to prioritize some of the challenges he will face beginning next month. Mr. Obama told Mr. Trump, for instance, that North Korea will be the biggest foreign-policy threat with which he has to contend, people familiar with the conversation said.
Mr. Trump seemed to signal that he had heard the advice when, during a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, he called on China to rein in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Though they are far apart on policy goals, Messrs. Obama and Trump share a common political experience: Both ran for president as underdogs who were expected to lose to Hillary Clinton.
“There are some common denominators. They were both improbable candidates,†said Kellyanne Conway, who managed Mr. Trump’s campaign. “They were up against someone everyone was told can’t lose and that she had it all wrapped up. Eight years apart, they were told the same thing: Don’t even bother. And they both defeated Hillary Clinton, which is no small feat.â€
Mr. Obama has directed his staff to ensure a smooth transition to a Trump administration, and the president-elect’s team has noted the White House’s cooperative approach. Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, one of Mr. Obama’s close friends, sent Ms. Conway an email offering to help during the transition, a gesture that the Trump camp welcomed.
In contrast to what Ms. Conway termed “election deniers,†Mr. Obama has “conceded and vowed to help make the transition†work, she said.
The relationship between the 44th and 45th presidents had an inauspicious start. In past years, Mr. Trump was a central figure in promoting the fiction that Mr. Obama was born overseas and thus not legitimately serving as president. It wasn’t until September that Mr. Trump publicly acknowledged that Mr. Obama was born in the U.S.As the campaign played out, Mr. Trump called Mr. Obama possibly the “worst†president in the nation’s history; Mr. Obama said Mr. Trump was proving himself “unfit for the office every single day.â€
The rancor makes the relationship that has developed all the more unique, analysts said.
“With so much baggage, that these men would be willing to do this speaks well of both of them. After all, the office is more important than any individual,†said Tim Naftali, a history professor at New York University.
Mr. Obama has concluded that keeping open a dialogue with Mr. Trump can pay dividends, and he has taken steps not to antagonize his successor.
“I think he believes he can have a positive impact on Donald Trump’s presidency, and if you can do that, why wouldn’t you?†said Bill Burton, one of Mr. Obama’s former aides.
White House senior aides have been tight-lipped about the phone calls between the two men.
Chief of Staff Denis McDonough has warned aides not to leak details of the discussions after reports surfaced that Mr. Trump, during his meeting with Mr. Obama, seemed shocked by the breadth of the job and repeatedly discussed his campaign and the size of the crowds he drew. Mr. Obama was concerned the leaks would alienate Mr. Trump and leave the president without the ability to influence him.
Part of what is driving Mr. Obama is the recognition that when he came into office in 2009, he benefited from Republican George W. Bush’s efforts to make the transition smooth, aides said. Mr. Obama wants to extend similar courtesies.
Write to Peter Nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com and Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
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