washington<u+2014>president-elect donald trump and president barack obama met for the first time thursday, with the republican businessman saying he has <u+201c>great respect<u+201d> for a man he<u+2019>s called <u+201c>the worst president in the history of the united states<u+201d> and he plans to seek mr. obama <u+2019>s counsel while in office. the softening of mr. trump<u+2019>s searing tone from the campaign came as he made the rounds in washington, where he also met with republican leaders in congress who had been cool to his candidacy. mr. obama, who hosted mr. trump in the oval office for 90 minutes, didn<u+2019>t have any personal praise for the man he said couldn<u+2019>t be trusted with the control of the country<u+2019>s nuclear weapons, but he was jovial during their joint appearance before reporters and pledged to do <u+201c>everything we can to help you succeed.<u+201d> he said the two discussed a range of domestic and foreign policy issues and organizational logistics about life in the white house. mr. trump then went to capitol hill to meet with republican leaders house speaker paul ryan (r., wis.) and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell (r., ky.). <u+201c>as far as i<u+2019>m concerned it could have gone on for a lot longer,<u+201d> said mr. trump, who was seated next to mr. obama in the oval office. he called mr. obama <u+201c>a very good man.<u+201d> <u+201c>i very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel,<u+201d> mr. trump said. the meeting between a president and his successor is a longtime tradition. but this meeting was different given the sitting president has said his successor is unqualified and temperamentally unfit to serve in the white house, and mocked his experience as a reality tv star. mr. obama said so as recently as monday in his final campaign event for democrat hillary clinton. on wednesday, white house press secretary josh earnest said the president still believes mr. trump is unfit to succeed him but respects the outcome of the election. for mr. trump, the meeting underscores that he is now relying on the administration of a man he has suggested wasn<u+2019>t born in the u.s. and was therefore ineligible to serve as president. the president-elect was a leading proponent of the false accusation that mr. obama was born in a foreign country, prompting the president to release his full birth certificate in 2011. both men struck a conciliatory tone following the meeting. <u+201c>i have been very encouraged by the interest by president-elect trump<u+2019>s wanting to work with my team around many of the issues that this great country faces,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>i believe that it is important for all regardless of party and regardless of political preferences to now come together.<u+201d> <u+201c>mr. president, it was a great honor being with you, and i look forward to many, many more times in the future,<u+201d> mr. trump said. messrs. obama and trump had never met before thursday. neither of them had any staff in the meeting, so they spent the 90 minutes alone. mr. obama went into the meeting prepared to go through with mr. trump the policies he has implemented that he hopes his successor won<u+2019>t undo, mr. earnest said. mr. trump is expected to attempt to unravel much of mr. obama<u+2019>s legacy, with plans to reverse his policies on health care, climate change, immigration and government regulations, and to significantly shift his foreign-policy approach. mr. earnest said he met his counterpart at the trump campaign, hope hicks. white house chief of staff denis mcdonough also met with mr. trump<u+2019>s son-in-law, jared kushner, and the two took a walk along the south lawn. mr. trump and his wife, melania, arrived at the white house around 11 a.m. while the president and president-elect met, mrs. trump and first lady michelle obama met on their own and toured the white house residence, where the trump family will live. the obamas didn<u+2019>t do a photo-op featuring the current and future first couples outside the south entrance of the white house, as is customary. in his first visit to the white house after the 2008 election, the obamas posed for the cameras alongside president george w. bush and first lady laura bush. on capitol hill, mr. trump suggested he and mr. ryan discussed policies such as health care and taxes. <u+201c>we are going to do absolutely spectacular things for the american people, and i look forward to starting<u+2014>quite frankly we can<u+2019>t get started fast enough,<u+201d> mr. trump said. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re going to lower taxes, as you know. health care, we<u+2019>re going to make it affordable,<u+201d> he said. mr. ryan borrowed mr. trump<u+2019>s signature line in describing their plans for working together. <u+201c>we are now talking about how we are going to hit the ground running to get this country turned around and make america great again,<u+201d> mr. ryan said. <u+2014>siohban hughes contributed to this article. write to carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
obama, trump talk policy issues in first meeting - wsj
carol e. lee