president barack obama said he believes president-elect donald trump will be driven by pragmatism, not ideology, as he governs, but he warned the republican businessman<u+2019>s temperament could be an issue unless he shifts course once in office. mr. obama, speaking at his first news conference since election day, said he has <u+201c>concerns<u+201d> about a trump presidency, while expressing some hope that his successor may not unravel his legacy on health care, climate change and the agreement to restrain iran<u+2019>s nuclear program. <u+201c>he is coming into this office with fewer set-hard-and-fast policy prescriptions than other presidents,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t think he is ideological. i think ultimately he is pragmatic,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>and that can serve him well, as long as he<u+2019>s got good people around him.<u+201d> mr. obama had several warnings for mr. trump, including suggesting he not undo some of his major foreign-policy achievements, such as the iran nuclear deal and the international climate-change agreement. trump spokeswoman hope hicks declined to comment. before the election, mr. obama had campaigned more for democrat hillary clinton than any modern sitting president had for his party<u+2019>s nominee. he told americans mr. trump would be a danger to the country if he were elected, saying he is <u+201c>uniquely unqualified<u+201d> for the presidency and couldn<u+2019>t be trusted with the u.s.<u+2019>s nuclear weapons arsenal. he also repeatedly promised world leaders that mr. trump wouldn<u+2019>t get elected. the president<u+2019>s comments on monday came before he left for the final foreign trip of his presidency. he has said since tuesday<u+2019>s election that he would see mr. trump has a smooth transition, stressing that the presidency is <u+201c>bigger than any one person.<u+201d> mr. obama stressed that saying something <u+201c>inaccurate or controversial<u+201d> as a candidate is different than doing so as president, when rhetoric can move financial markets and affect life-or-death scenarios. <u+201c>there are going to be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them,<u+201d> said mr. obama, who met with mr. trump for 90 minutes in the oval office last week. <u+201c>i think he recognizes that this is different. and so do the american people.<u+201d> mr. obama said he is open to changes to his health-care law. if republicans repeal it and replace it with something that works better, he said, <u+201c>i<u+2019>ll be the first one to say, <u+2018>that<u+2019>s great.<u+2019> <u+201d> but on the international climate-change agreement and the iran nuclear deal, he warned of global consequences if mr. trump backs out. withdrawing from the iran nuclear deal, he said, would elicit u.s. sanctions against european countries, russia and china, which are part of the agreement. <u+201c>so it becomes more difficult to undo something that<u+2019>s working than undo something that isn<u+2019>t working,<u+201d> mr. obama said. while overseas, mr. obama will visit greece, germany and peru. at each stop he<u+2019>s expected to reassure u.s. allies of continuity in longtime american policies and alliances from his administration to mr. trump<u+2019>s. <u+201c>on a lot of issues, i think what you<u+2019>re going to see is, now comes the hard part,<u+201d> mr. obama said of mr. trump, <u+201c>now comes governing.<u+201d> write to carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
obama says donald trump will be driven by pragmatism not ideology as president - wsj
carol e. lee