President Obama on Monday offered up some candid thoughts on last week's election, as well as some measured analysis of President-elect Donald Trump. While Obama generally maintained a cordial tone toward his successor, crediting Trump for "successfully [mobilizing] a big chunk of the country" and saying that he believes Trump's desire to do well as commander in chief is "sincere," the president did address the lingering question of Trump's temperament — particularly in the wake of his appointment of controversial former Breitbart News boss Steven Bannon as chief strategist.
"I don't think he is ideological," Obama said of Trump. "I think ultimately he is pragmatic. That can serve him well." While Obama declined to comment on Bannon's appointment directly, he did say Trump may need to address "certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well" as the nation's chief executive:
Obama did say he believes Trump understands the difference between campaigning and governing — but he also suggested his successor will likely discover the Oval Office brings with it a dose of reality he may be unprepared for, as Bloomberg Politics reporter Jennifer Epstein recounts below. Kimberly Alters
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Pipe bombs: The end of a conspiracy theory?Feature Despite Bongino and Bondi’s attempt at truth-telling, the MAGAverse is still convinced the Deep State is responsible
-
The robot revolutionFeature Advances in tech and AI are producing android machine workers. What will that mean for humans?
-
Health: Will Kennedy dismantle U.S. immunization policy?Feature ‘America’s vaccine playbook is being rewritten by people who don’t believe in them’
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
