Donald Trump, Barack Obama meet at White House | live coverage
Donald Trump’s team kept the lines of contact open with Russian officials throughout the presidential election campaign.
- Obama, Trump in talks
- Paul Ryan meets Trump
- Trump’s top priorities
- Who will be chief of staff?
- Press blocked
US ELECTION FALLOUT: Barack Obama and Donald Trump have put their differences aside during a 90-minute meeting at The White House.
President-elect Donald Trump today took a triumphant tour of Washington, meeting President Barack Obama and discussing priorities with Republican congressional leader
First lady Michelle Obama met privately in the White House residence with Mr Trump’s wife, Melania.
HOW THE DAY UNFOLDED
6.20pm:Protests turn to riots
Oregon police have now termed the anti-Trum protests in Portland “a riot” after it turned violent, with demonstrators breaking windows of businesses and starting a fire in a dumpster. Meanwhile in Colorado, anti-Trump protesters managed to shut down Interstate 25 near downtown Denver briefly.
3.09pm:Trump’s open line to Putin
Donald Trump’s team kept the lines of contact open with Russian officials throughout the presidential election campaign, it was claimed yesterday, raising fresh questions over his relationship with the Kremlin.
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, told the Interfax news agency: “Clearly, most of those people who are said to be members of his close circle are known to us. These are people who have always been in the limelight in the US, who occupied high-ranking positions.
“I cannot say ... all of them, but a whole series of them were staying in touch with Russian representatives.”
1.30pm:Trump on protesters
Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
12pm: Trump bucks press protocol
Interesting sidebar to today’s Washington tour from AP: President-elect Donald Trump is keeping America in the dark about his earliest conversations and decisions about his incoming government.
Trump refused to allow journalists to travel with him to Washington today for the historic meeting with Obama.
There was a request for a small pool of journalists to travel with Trump, but this was rebuffed by his advisers.
His team has not put out a daily schedule, offered any updates on what he has done with his time or released information on any contact with other world leaders. Russia and London released briefings on conversations with Vladimir Putin and Theresa May respectively.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the president-elect’s team expects “to operate a traditional pool and look forward to implementing our plans in the near future.”
“This decision could leave Americans blind about his whereabouts and well-being in the event of a national crisis,” said Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for Reuters and the The White House Correspondents’ Association president.
“Not allowing a pool of journalists to travel with and cover the next president of the United States is unacceptable.”
Every president and president-elect in recent memory has travelled with a pool of journalists when they leave the White House grounds.
The long-standing practice is intended to ensure the public has a watchful eye on the new leader - AP
11.25am:Inauguration chair
Tom Barrack, who founded California-based firm Colony Capital, has reportedly been selected to serve as Trump’s chairman of the President-elect’s inaugural committee.
Barrack is a long-time friend of Trump. The inaugural chairman is responsible for raising millions of dollars to fund the inauguration
11am:Bill Clinton calls Trump
Former President Bill Clinton has spoken to President-elect Donald Trump by phone.
The former president’s spokesman said he wished Trump well and congratulated him.
10.40am:First image: Michelle, Melania meet
Images are starting to drop on the wire from the White House photographer.
10.20am: ASX to catch its breath
Australian stocks look set to catch their breath today after staging the biggest one-day gain in five years yesterday as investors dove back into the market following a decisive result to the US election.
The SPI 200 is pointing to a slight fall at the open but fair value suggests a 0.3 per cent rise is more likely.
Follow all the developments on BusinessNow.
9.45am:‘Unprecedented’ conflicts of interest
Head of a business empire and now US president: by combining these two roles, billionaire Donald Trump could face conflicts of interest of an scale unprecedented in American political history.
The Republican elected to the White House made his fortune by building a network of hotels, office towers and luxury apartment buildings as the head of the Trump Organization.
His real estate empire is primarily located in the United States, but also extends to countries such as South Korea and Turkey. Managing political relations with such US allies while president risks creating a curious mix of competing goals.
You can read more about the issues the Trump Organisation faces here.
9.30am:Chief of Staff options emerge
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and campaign aide Kellyanne Conway emerging as possible picks for chief of staff.
Conservative media executive Steve Bannon is also in the running, reports AP, citing anonymous sources.
Conway was Trump’s third campaign chief of staff and Priebus was quick to embrace Trump after his nomination.
9.20am:‘Not all doom and gloom’
“It’s time that we snapped out of the general doom and gloom,” British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson.
Johnson said people should “focus on the opportunities ... and not the problems” and added that British PM had a “very, very good conversation” with the President elect earlier in the day.
8.55am:Bill Leak’s cartoon
Today ...
Elizabeth Redman8.50am:Market reaction
The election of Donald Trump could boost the gold price 14 per cent and push OPEC members to conclude a deal to cut oil production, Credit Suisse analysts said.
Although the Trump administration looks positive for parts of the US oil and gas industry, it could also heighten geo-political risk, according to the bank More in BusinessNow here.
8.35am:Protests continue
More than 100 protesters are holding a sit-in outside Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue as the president-elect meets with Republican leaders a few blocks away on Capitol Hill.
The mostly student protesters are holding signs that say (hash)stillwithher and Love Trumps Hate, a phrase that Hillary Clinton often used during her campaign against Trump.
8.05am:Australian dollar slumps amid US optimism
The Australian dollar has slipped against the greenback as markets assess the likely direction of a Donald Trump presidency.
At 7am (AEDT), the local unit was trading at US76.13 cents, down from US76.74 cents yesterday.
7.50am:Trump’s top priorities
Trump spoke briefly with reporters after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Capitol.
He said his top three priorities are immigration, health care and jobs. “Big-league jobs,” he said.
When a reporter asked if he would ask Congress to ban Muslims, Trump said “Thank you everybody,” and walked away.
7.30am:First Trump interview
“60 Minutes” has landed the first extensive interview with President-elect Donald Trump - it will air at around 11am Monday AEDT.
Host Lesley Stahl will also speak to Trump’s family, including incoming first lady Melania and children Ivanka, Tiffany, Eric and Donald Jr.
Meanwhile, you ca read more about the ‘House of Trump’ here.
7.15am:Michelle Obama, Melania Trump talk
As Trump and Obama met in the Oval Office, first lady Michelle Obama welcomed Trump’s wife, Melania, to the White House residence.
The pair spoke about the challenges of raising children in the White House, a factor which will be particularly relevant because Barron Trump, 10, will be the first teenager in the White House.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the pair spoke about the experience of being a good parent under those unique circumstances. He also said the two women then walked to the Oval Office to visit with the president and the president-elect.
7am:Fresh high for Wall Street
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new intraday high and bond prices continued falling, as investors bet that a Donald Trump presidency could mean more fiscal stimulus, lower corporate taxes and higher inflation. More HERE.
6.50am:Domestic policy discussed
More quotes from the meeting:
Obama: “We talked about some of organiational issues in setting up the White House. We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy.
“I have been very encouraged by the interest by president-elect Trump’s wanting to work with my team around many of the issues that this great country faces.
“I believe that it is important for all regardless of party and regardless of political preferences to now come together.”
Trump: “Mr President, it was a great honour being with you, and I look forward to many, many more times in the future. As far as I’m concerned it could have gone on for a lot longer.
“We discussed a lot of different situations, some wonderful and some difficulties.
“I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel.”
6.40am:Talks with Paul Ryan
House Speaker Paul Ryan says he and the President-elect had a “fantastic, productive meeting” at the Capitol.
Trump later signalled possible items on the Republican agenda, saying: “We can’t get started fast enough, whether it’s health care or immigration.”
Ryan also ook Trump, Melania Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence onto his balcony and pointed to where the inaugural platform being is built, which is where Trump will be sworn in.
6.30am: Trump’s agenda
While in Washington, Trump also plans to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump had said he expected the meeting with Obama to be short, perhaps 15 minutes, but it lasted for 90 minutes and he said the two could have talked for far longer.
Trump said that Obama explained “some of the difficulties” but also “some of the really great things that have been achieved.”
6.20am:Wide range of issues discussed
White House officials said that the two men had discussed a range of issues including Obama’s meetings with leaders from Germany, Greece and across the Asia-Pacific during foreign travel next week.
On that trip, Obama is likely to be inundated with panicked questions about America’s role in world affairs.
The two men ended the improbable and historic White House encounter with a handshake and refused to take questions
“Here’s a good rule. Don’t answer questions when they just start yelling,” Obama told Trump, referring to the press.
6.15am: Trump, Obama meet
President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump have met at the White House. Obama called the 90-minute meeting “excellent,” and his successor said he looked forward to receiving the outgoing president’s “counsel”.
At the close of the Oval Office sit-down, Obama said to Trump, “We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed the country succeeds.”
Trump said the meeting was a “great honour” called Obama a “very good man” and said he looked forward “to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel.”
6am:First interview
60 Minutes” has landed the first extensive interview with President-elect Donald Trump.
CBS announced hat Lesley Stahl will interview Trump at his home in New York City about his election. 60 Minutes will broadcast the interview on Sunday night.
With agencies
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