Obama: Trump is 'pragmatic'

President Barack Obama praised his soon-to-be successor, Donald Trump, calling him “pragmatic” at a press conference on Monday and suggested the President-elect would be flexible on policy matters.

“I don't think he is ideological,” the president said. “Ultimately he is pragmatic in that way.”


He also said that Trump is entering office “with fewer set, hard and fast policy prescriptions than a lot of other presidents might be arriving with.”

Obama also said that while Trump may have tapped into the anxieties of his supporters, he also tapped into their enthusiasm “in a way that was impressive,” a complement that Obama offered to Trump when they spoke late last week.

He said that Trump’s pragmatism can serve him well, so long as he surrounds himself with “good people," and a “clear sense of direction."

“Of course I have concerns,” Obama admitted, adding, “He and I differ on a whole bunch of issues.”

He went on to reflect that the federal government “is not a speed boat, it’s an ocean liner,” saying that it takes a lot of hard work to create significant policy changes, using Obamacare as an example of the kind of effort it takes to make change.

The president said he advised Trump “to make sure that before he commits to certain courses of action, he has really dug in and thought through how various issues play themselves out.”