Barack Obama tells Donald Trump US presidency is not a family business, urges greater focus on policy
Updated
US President Barack Obama has advised his successor Donald Trump to avoid running the White House like his business empire.
Key points:
- Barack Obama says Donald Trump must understand the difference between campaigning and governing
- Mr Obama says Mr Trump "has not spent a lot of time sweating the details"
- Mr Trump will be inaugurated on January 20
The outgoing President said he has been in regular communication with Mr Trump, who will be inaugurated in less than two weeks.
Mr Obama said the President-elect must understand the difference between campaigning and leading a country.
"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 organisation on Earth," Mr Obama said.
"You can't manage it the way you would manage a family business."
Mr Obama added he and Mr Trump are "sort of opposites in some ways".
Trump has not 'spent a lot of time sweating the details'
The comments were made in an interview with ABC America's This Week program, where Mr Obama singled out their contrasting approaches to policy matters.
Mr Obama said he was on the "policy wonk" end of the spectrum, in contrast to Mr Trump.
"I think that he has not spent a lot of time sweating the details," Mr Obama said.
The President warned that quirk could give Mr Trump fresh perspective once he takes office, but it also could blindside him.
"There are world capitals and financial markets and people all around the world who take really seriously what he [Mr Trump] says," Mr Obama added.
In early December Mr Trump took to social media to complain about the costs of a new Boeing 747 Air Force One aircraft.
The same day as the tweet Lockheed Martin and Boeing Stocks fell — albeit briefly.
Stocks in Toyota also dropped after the President-elect tweeted about the car manufacturers factory in Mexico.
Mr Trump's use of his Twitter account to communicate has raised concern among several politicians — notably outgoing Vice-President Joe Biden.
The Russians 'meddled' in election: Obama
In the same interview, Mr Obama also talked about the US intelligence agency's report into alleged cyber hacking by Russia in an attempt to influence the presidential election.
Mr Obama warned Mr Trump underestimated the impact that cyber hacking and misinformation could have on democracies and called on Americans to unite against Russian attacks.
"The Russians intended to meddle, and they meddled," Mr Obama said.
"One of the things that I'm concerned about is the degree to which, there are Republicans who seem to have more confidence in Vladimir Putin than fellow Americans, because those fellow Americans are Democrats — that cannot be."
Mr Trump has repeatedly taken to Twitter to reject the allegations of Russian involvement in hacking ahead on November's election.
However, the incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, has since said that Mr Trump accepted the intelligence findings and may take action.
Mr Trump will be inaugurated on January 20.
Topics: obama-barack, us-elections, government-and-politics, information-and-communication, security-intelligence, united-states
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