President Obama on Sunday said he and his Twitter-loving successor, Donald Trump, are “sort of opposites in some ways,” though he acknowledged that neither of them suffers from a lack of confidence.
“It’s probably a prerequisite for the job, or at least you have to have enough craziness to think that you can do the job,” he told ABC’s “This Week” in a wide-ranging interview.
Mr. Obama said his conversations with Mr. Trump have been cordial, and that the Republican has been open to suggestions during the transition ahead of Inauguration Day, on Jan. 20.
“The main thing that I’ve tried to transmit is that there’s a different between governing and campaigning, so that what he has to appreciate is, as soon as you walk into this office after you’ve been sworn in, you’re now in charge of the largest organization on Earth,” he said.
Critics say Mr. Trump hasn’t made that transition just yet, citing New Year’s Eve tweets to his “many enemies” and ensuing posts about “clowns” in the Democratic Party and the “dishonest media.”
Mr. Trump has scheduled a general news conference for Wednesday — weeks after he postponed a press conference designed to explain how he will untangle potential conflicts of interest from his vast business empire.
Mr. Obama, who served part of a Senate term before his historic run to the White House in 2008, said managing the free world is an endeavor unlike any other.
“You can’t manage it the way you would manage a family business,” he said. “You can’t manage it the way you would manage a Senate office.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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