The thin veneer of civility between Barack Obama and Donald Trump has a few more cracks in it, after Trump tweeted to accuse Obama of throwing up “inflammatory” roadblocks during the presidential transition of power.
Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks.Thought it was going to be a smooth transition - NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016
The president-elect is on the social media platform most mornings to tweet something accusatory. But since his positive post-election meeting with Obama, he has largely stayed away from a negative personal tone against the president.
Trump didn’t specify exactly what Obama has done or said to anger him this time, although just a few days ago Obama said he is “confident” he would have won a third term – a statement Trump immediately disagreed with.
President Obama said that he thinks he would have won against me. He should say that but I say NO WAY! - jobs leaving, ISIS, OCare, etc.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2016
Trump also said on Wednesday morning that Israel was being treated with “total disdain and disrespect” by the United Nations, after a UN vote (the United States abstained from the vote) declared West Bank settlements by Israel illegal. Israeli officials have accused the Obama administration of creating and pushing the resolution.
When asked to clarify what Trump means by saying Obama is not allowing for a smooth transition, press secretary Sean Spicer said on a media call that the tweets “speak for themselves”.
On Monday, Spicer said in an interview that Trump’s use of Twitter to communicate will be “a really exciting part of the job”.
Obama has long said that George W Bush had ensured a smooth transition when he took office in 2009, and he was insistent that his successor receive the same treatment.
Immediately after the election, Obama invited Trump and his wife, Melania, to the White House to meet with him and the First Lady. It created a (very forced) friendly rapport of sorts between the two men, with a clearly strained Obama attempting to be as welcoming and hospitable as possible. The planned 15-minute meeting turned into a 90-minute private meeting, with Trump afterwards declaring the president a “good man”.
“I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel. He explained some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets and some of the really great things that have been achieved,” said Trump.
A fantastic day in D.C. Met with President Obama for first time. Really good meeting, great chemistry. Melania liked Mrs. O a lot!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
“I want to emphasize to you, Mr President-elect, that we now are going to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed, then the country succeeds,” said Obama during their White House meeting on 10 November.
