In a longstanding inaugural tradition, the Obamas welcomed the Trumps to the White House for tea or coffee on Friday morning, just hours before President-elect Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America.
President Barack Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, met the president-elect and his wife, incoming first lady Melania Trump, on the steps leading to the front door of the White House.
The two couples exchanged pleasantries and the president greeted Trump by saying, “How are you? Good to see you. Congratulations.”
Mrs. Trump presented Mrs. Obama with a Tiffany & Co. blue gift box tied in white satin ribbon. “You brought a gift!” the first lady exclaimed. And then, in a sign of the awkward gaps that come with the transition of the White House, she awkwardly looked around in vain for an aide to hand it off to while they posed for cameras. Finally, President Obama took the box and walked it inside, saying gamely, “I’ll take care of the protocol here.”
Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Trump put their arms around each other as the ingoing and outgoing first couples then posed for photos together on the White House steps.
President Obama shakes President-elect Trump's hand as he welcomes him to the White House on #Inauguration Day.abcn.ws/2jwjJ9Y
The president also asked Trump “how was church?” as he led the Trumps into the White House.
Also in attendance at the tea reception, according to pool reports, were Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, among others.
Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Trump later emerged from the White House together, looking solemn as they got into a car to ride to the Capitol together, as per tradition. Their husbands left the White House moments later, looking similarly straight-faced as they got into a separate car also headed for the Capitol.
Tom Barrack, Trump’s longtime friend and the chair of his presidential inaugural committee, previously told reporters that after the couples’ White House meet-up the Trumps would ride with the Obamas to the Capitol Building for the inauguration.
“They’ll go to the White House, invited for coffee or tea, they’ll spend half an hour there or so, and then they’ll go together,” he said, according to local news station WTOP.
“That’s a great moment,” he added, also calling the Obamas’ invitation “very gracious.”
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