Obama (left) and McCain have not had the warmest of relationships since the 2008 elections. McCain has rare 1-on-1 with Obama

With a “rapidly deteriorating” situation in Egypt, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had a rare one-on-one meeting at the White House with 2008 campaign rival Barack Obama to discuss policy in the Middle East and several other domestic issues.

Though McCain did not want to delve into details about the meeting upon returning to the Capitol Wednesday evening, he emphasized that his talk with Obama was “good” and that he believed the two would meet again with issues such as immigration reform, border security, trade and middle eastern policy.


“We had a good meeting. We talked about a variety of issues,” McCain said. “Obviously, we talked about immigration, we talked about Egypt , we talked about fiscal issues, we talked about a number of what you might expect — the issues of the day.”

Hours after their afternoon meeting, McCain officially called for Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to step down — though the Republican made clear that his proclamation, made over Twitter, reflected his opinion only and not the president’s.

“Regrettably the time has come 4 Pres. Mubarak 2 step down & relinquish power,” McCain tweeted. “It’s in the best interest of Egypt, its people & its military,” McCain wrote.

McCain said he decided it was time for Mubarak to step down because of the “rapid deterioration” of the situation Wednesday, as tensions in major Egyptian cities escalated and thousands of anti-government protesters were reported injured in clashes between government and anti-government forces.

He said he did not inform the president he would be making such a statement when they huddled in the Oval Office.

“I didn’t want it connected to our meeting. We did discuss the overall situation, but I didn’t argue a particular position. The president makes his decisions, and so I didn’t want to act like I was influencing his or him,” McCain said. “I can’t second guess the president at a time like this, on an issue like this.”

Obama and McCain have not have the warmest of relationships since the 2008 elections, and McCain joked Wednesday that he won’t exactly be having daily chats with the president. But the veteran Republican senator emphasized the cordial nature of their talks and that they likely will happen again when important world events unfold.

“I’m sure we will be having discussions in the future but it will depend on the issues that are up. In other words, the president of the United States doesn’t have time for social calls,” McCain said.