President Obama and his successor Donald Trump held a longer-than-expected first post-election meeting this afternoon to lay the ground for the transition of power.

While Mr Obama and the President-Elect met in the Oval Office for 90 minutes, Michelle Obama took Melania Trump on her first tour of her future residence. 

Mr Trump said this was a much longer meeting than he expected and he had respect for the President, 'a good man' whose counsel he would seek in the future. He also looked forward to many more meetings.

Mr Obama said this was an excellent meeting and he wanted to help Mr Trump because his success would be a success for the country. 

Obama and Trump have had almost no one-on-one contact previously. Trump led the "birther" movement that questioned Obama's US citizenship before eventually deciding that the issue was closed.

He has pledged to overturn Obama's signature policy achievements after he takes office on January 20, notably Obamacare and his agreements with Iran and Cuba. 

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.

Yesterday, Obama said that despite his major differences with the New York real estate magnate, he would follow the lead of former Republican President George W. Bush in 2008 and ensure a smooth handover to Trump.

"Eight years ago, President Bush and I had some pretty significant differences, but President Bush's team could not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition," Obama said. "So I have instructed my team to follow the example that President Bush's team set."

Trump spent yesterday focusing on that transition during meetings with his staff at Trump Tower in New York.

Republican Chris Christie, who is leading Trump's transition team, said earlier today the White House meeting would be "great" and pointed to the tone of unity in Trump's election victory speech.

"We heard a lot about the peaceful transfer of power during this election, and I think you'll see that symbolized today," Christie told NBC's "Today" programme.

Asked whether Trump would apologize to the president for questioning his birthplace and legitimacy, the New Jersey governor said the controversy was just politics, adding: "They have a lot more important things to talk about."

While he is best known as a businessman and property developer, Trump hosted several seasons of The Apprentice, a TV game show that judged the business skills of a group of contestants.

 

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