WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama repeatedly refused to criticize President-elect Donald Trump Monday and called illegal immigrant kids “American” in his first first press conference since the election.
Obama will travel to Europe this afternoon and said to reporters that Trump told him in their meeting last week that he is committed to the NATO alliance. President Obama said that Trump is “sincere” about wanting to be a good president and that he doesn’t think the New York businessman is “ideological,” and that he is instead “pragmatic.”
The president was asked about his comments saying Trump is “unfit” to serve in the Oval Office and said that “this office has a way of waking you up.” Obama also spoke on issues that helped propel Trump to victory. When speaking about globalism, Obama said, “you’re not going to put that genie back in the bottle.”
The president said that immigration “keeps us young” and makes the United States “more dynamic.” A reporter asked him about the fact that he is handing over to Trump the names and addresses of recipients of his executive orders to protect illegal immigrants. President Obama spoke specifically about DACA, which protects illegal immigrant children, and said he will “urge” Trump and his administration to not “endanger the status of what for all practical purposes are American kids.”