washington<u+2014>president barack obama said he is rooting for the success of president-elect donald trump, despite campaigning aggressively against him, and that his successor struck a unifying tone in their conversation early wednesday morning. <u+201c>we all want what<u+2019>s best for this country,<u+201d> mr. obama said in a rose garden statement at the white house. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s what i heard when i spoke to him directly. and i was heartened by that.<u+201d> <u+201c>i hope that he maintains that spirit throughout this transition, and i certainly hope that<u+2019>s how his presidency has a chance to begin,<u+201d> mr. obama said. still, the two politicians are preparing for the transition of power amid bitter and at times personal differences. mr. trump has long promoted false accusations that mr. obama wasn<u+2019>t born in the u.s. and during the campaign painted him as leader who weakened america<u+2019>s power on the world stage. mr. obama, for his part, campaigned vigorously against mr. trump, saying he was unfit to be president and couldn<u+2019>t be trusted with the codes to the nation<u+2019>s nuclear weapons. the president made no mention of the likelihood that mr. trump may attempt to undo much of his legacy once in office. but, he said <u+201c>it is no secret that the president-elect and i have some pretty significant differences.<u+201d> capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for election 2016 news. <u+201c>now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we<u+2019>re actually all on one team,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re not democrats first. we<u+2019>re not republicans first. we are americans first.<u+201d> mr. obama also said he was proud of the historic campaign run by democrat hillary clinton, a former secretary of state in the president<u+2019>s first term, and believes she would continue making an influence. the president also said he instructed his aides to ensure a smooth transition of power to a trump administration in january. <u+201c>because we are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>the peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. and over the next few months, we are going to show that to the world.<u+201d> the president sounded a note of optimism aimed at a couple hundred white house staffers, many of them young, who had gathered for his statement. some of them wept. he urged them to <u+201c>keep their heads up<u+201d> because their work <u+201c>has left the next president with a stronger, better country than the one that existed eight years ago.<u+201d> write to carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
barack obama says he<u+2019>s rooting for donald trump<u+2019>s success - wsj
carol e. lee