In his final press conference as U.S. president, Barack Obama offered some personal advice for President-elect Donald Trump: listen to everyone, even if you disagree with them.
“If you find yourself isolated because the process breaks down, or if you’re only hearing from people who agree with you on everything, and if you don’t create a process that is fact-checking and probing and asking hard questions… that’s when you start making mistakes,” Obama said Wednesday.
“Reality has a way of biting back if you’re not paying attention to it.”
It was a pointed message for Trump, who enters the White House with a Republican majority in both the House and Senate – a scenario that gives the GOP broad political power under the incoming president.
Addressing White House reporters for the last time, Obama also talked about his deepening concerns about social and economic inequality, touched on his retirement plans and offered an optimistic vision for the country’s future.
His address struck a positive and often joking tone. Asked when the United States could see its second black president, Obama said he expects to see plenty of diversity in the White House.
“We’re going to have a woman president, a Latino president, a Jewish president, a Hindu president, “he said. “I suppose we’ll have a bunch of mixed-up presidents that no one knows really what to call them.”
Obama highlighted several of his successes, including gains made for LGBT rights and negotiations with Russia and Iran to reduce nuclear weapon stockpiles.
But the president also reiterated several concerns, such as racial inequality, the growing income gap and the influence of money in American politics. On voting rights, Obama urged the Trump administration to make voting easier, not harder. He went so far as to label stories of widespread voter fraud “fake news” and draw a direct line between voter suppression and Jim Crow, the legislation that limited rights for African Americans.
“There as an ugly history to that that we should not shy about,” Obama said. “I worry about making sure that the basic machinery of our democracy works better.”
The Obamas have already begun moving out of the White House and into their new home in Kalorama, an upscale neighbourhood in Washington, D.C. The president said he plans to spend 2017 doing some writing, celebrating his 25-year wedding anniversary and reflecting.
“I want to be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. I want to spend precious time with my girls. So those are my priorities this year.”
Obama said that some reporters have asked him off-the-record what he truly thinks about the direction the country is headed in.
Obama said his personal feelings match what he’s said in public—that the United States is “going to be okay.”
“This is not just a matter of ‘no drama Obama.’ This is truly what I believe,” he said.
“I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe that people are more good than bad… But at my core, I think we’re going to be okay. We just have to fight for it, work for it, and don’t take it for granted.”
He then addressed the journalists in the room: “And I know you’re going to help us do that.”
