Bernie Sanders committed today to staying in the Democratic race until the last primary - next Tuesday in Washington - but suggested to reporters this afternoon that he could drop out immediately after.

'I will of course be competing in the D.C. primary,' he told reporters waiting for him outside the White House after his meeting with President Barack Obama. 'This is the last primary in the Democratic nominating process.'

Left unsaid was how long he would remain in the race - a sharp contrast from previous statements in which he committed to campaigning until the Democratic National Convention at the end of July - and whether he plans to continue actively challenging Hillary Clinton.

Sanders deliberately stated that his focus as he campaigns in D.C. would be on the District of Columbia's fight for statehood, an indication that he will no longer fight tooth and nail against Clinton, who on Tuesday became the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Foreshadowing a possible endorsement, Sanders said he would meet with her 'in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump.'

'I spoke briefly to Secretary Clinton Tuesday night, and I congratulated her on her very strong campaign,' he told reporters.

The U.S. senator left without taking questions from press and his campaign manager told DailyMail.com that he did not know when Sanders planned to get out.

An hour and a half later Obama endorsed Clinton via a video she sent out on Twitter and distributed to press by email.

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Bernie Sanders committed today to staying in the Democratic race until the last primary next Tuesday - but suggested to reporters this afternoon that he could drop out after that

Speaking to reporters outside the White House after his meeting with President Barack Obama, Sanders said his focus as he campaigns in the D.C. primary would be on the District of Columbia's fight for statehood

Sanders, who was accompanied by wife Jane, noted that he also talked to Hillary Clinton, who on Tuesday became the presumptive Democratic nominee, this week and looks forward to joining forces with her to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office

Today at the White House, Sanders strutted to the podium with his wife Jane at his side.

He repeated many of the familiar lines he's used throughout his campaign, raging against billionaires, Wall Street and articulating how the country needed to look out for the poor.

'These are the issues that we will take to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia at the end of July,' he said.

Just last Saturday Sanders was proclaiming that the convention would be 'contested' and that he was without a doubt going there to fight for the nomination.

By Monday his tone had shifted. Sanders said he'd assess the race after California voted and didn't want to talk about the future until then.

Sanders was mum on the future of his campaign today at the White House, leaving reporters to draw their own conclusions about where he stands.

There was no talk of superdelegate strategy he'd been pushing or the polls that say Sanders would be the stronger candidate against Trump.

His only reference to the Republican nominee was to say that 'Donald Trump would clearly to my mind, and I think to the majority of Americans be a disaster as president of the United States.'

'It is unbelievable to me, and I say this with all sincerity, that the Republican Party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign,' he continued.

Sanders and his wife Jane arrive onstage for a rally in Washington, Thursday, after his meeting with Obama

Supporters cheer as Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during A Future to Believe In rally on Thursday

Sanders greets supporters during the rally. He has said he will work with Hillary Clinton to beat Donald Trump in the presidential election

'Needless to say, I am going to do everything in my power and I will work as hard as I can to make sure Donald Trump does not become President of the United States.'

Sanders said he hoped his meeting would bring about both a plan to defeat the presumptive Republican nominee and 'create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent.'

President Obama held the meeting at the White House with Sanders as a courtesy to the Democratic candidate, the White House said.

The president's press secretary would not say what the two discussed while indicating that the president's endorsement of Clinton wasn't a 'surprise.'

Obama taped the video on Tuesday before he talked to Clinton and Sanders, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, said.

The previous day the Associated Press and others had called the race for Clinton based on her superdelegate support. The president didn't endorse then as California, the largest state in the nation, was still to vote, as were five other states and the District of Columbia.

After polls closed in California, Obama let it rip, calling Clinton and Sanders and releasing a statement in support of Clinton as the Democratic nominee.

Sanders met with Harry Reid, pictured, and Vice President Joe Biden on his tour of Washington and moved forward with plans to rally his supporters near the D.C. armory this evening

His official endorsement came today in the form of a video that spread like wildfire on social media.

Soon after another one of Clinton's Democratic primary rivals, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who left the race after a terrible showing in Iowa, likewise put his weight behind the former secretary of state. Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren did the same.

Meanwhile, Sanders met with Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, and Vice President Joe Biden during his tour of Washington.

The vice president's office said in a statement Wednesday evening that the former Senate colleagues 'discussed the importance of what Senator Sanders' campaign has done to focus the conversation in this country on income inequality, the corrosive influence of big money in our campaigns and the need to reform our politics.

'The Vice President congratulated him on energizing so many new voters and bringing them into the Democratic Party,' it read.

'They discussed the need for the national conversation to continue to focus on the defining fight of our time: retaining and expanding access to the middle class, and the need for the Democratic Party to continue to embrace these new voters as we work toward victory in November.'

Sanders had left by the time the statement came out to rally his supporters near the D.C. armory.

He said today that he strongly supports D.C. statehood and would be talking about that tonight.

'The state of Vermont has about the same number of residents as Washington, D.C. has but we have two United States senators,' Sanders pointed out, along with one non-voting House member. 'That does not make sense.'

Sanders has been avoiding the press since his spectacular loss to Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night in California, a state that he thought he was in spitting distance to win.

Today at the White House he suggested that the margin would tighten upon further inspection. The count presently has Clinton up by almost 13 points in the Golden State.

He did not take questions from his travelling press corps on Wednesday when he arrived in Burlington, Vermont, for an overnight stay at his home, quickly greeting supporters before jumping back in his SUV.

And he came to the White House through a door not accessible to the media. After reading a statement outside the West Wing, he walked away without taking question from a rowdy pack of press.

The senator's campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, said he did not expect Sanders to answer questions from reporters at any time today, though another campaign aide said the Vermont senator planned to do the Sunday shows.

President Barack Obama is holding a meeting with Bernie Sanders at the White House this morning as a courtesy to the Democratic candidate

OLD PALS: The White House declined to say Wednesday what the president and Sanders would discuss, and Sanders has been avoiding the press since his spectacular loss to Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night in California.

Obama and Sanders are seen here walking into the Oval Office. Sanders bypassed the press on his way in, coming through a back door

The White House has walked a delicate dance over the past few days on its move toward an endorsement of Clinton.

President Obama made a congratulatory call to Clinton on Tuesday and sent out the statement referring to her as the Democratic nominee. Yet the White House said Wednesday that it shouldn't be taken as a formal endorsement.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on the president's trip to New York that he did not 'anticipate any formal announcement of an endorsement in the presidential race from the president in advance of his meeting with Sen. Sanders.'

The endorsement video, which had been pre-taped, dropped directly after.

Earnest also said not to expect the endorsement to come when Obama appears on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,' which he pre-taped last night but was held for broadcast until after his meeting with Sanders.

Sanders thanked President Obama and Vice President Biden in his remarks 'for the degree of impartiality they established during the course of this entire process.

'What they said at the the beginning is that they would not put their thumb on the scales, and in fact they kept their word, and I appreciate that very, very much,' he said, another indication that he's gearing up to concede.

After the meetings Sanders held a rally in Washington, where he made no mention of presumptive nominee Clinton.

Sanders was greeted with cheers of 'Thank you, Bernie' as he addressed about 3,000 people near RFK Stadium. He spoke of the need to address wealth inequality and the campaign finance system, but avoided mentioning Clinton.

President Obama made a congratulatory call to Hillary Clinton on Tuesday and sent out a statement referring to her as the Democratic nominee. Yet the White House said Wednesday that it shouldn't be taken as a formal endorsement. Today Obama backed Clinton a video released by the Clinton campaign that was actually shot on Tuesday

Sanders stopped off at the Peets coffee across from the White House before his meeting with the president. His campaign says he ordered a coffee and scone

On the pre-released clip of Obama sitting down with Fallon, the president was complimentary of the Vermont senator.

'I thought that Bernie Sanders brought enormous energy and new ideas. And he pushed the party and challenged them,' Obama said.

Earnest, on the plane with reporters yesterday, said that 'the president believes that Senator Sanders has more than earned the right to make his own decision about the course of his campaign.'

The press secretary explained that the president is especially aware of the 'emotions and personal investment' that it takes to mount a campaign for the White House, echoing a bit of Clinton's speech last night when she recalled failing to win the nomination in 2008.

'And again, when you have performed as well as Sen. Sanders has – he certainly exceeded everybody's expectations, possibly even his own, in terms of the support and enthusiasm that the would generate all across the country,' Earnest continued.

'He's earned the opportunity to make these decisions based on his own thinking and based on his own schedule,' the top flack added.

Earnest expressed the same sentiments today as he declined to say whether the president believes Sanders should drop out.

Obama, on the set of the Tonight Show, said he hoped in the 'next couple of weeks' the Democrats could 'pull things together.'

'And what happens during primaries,' Obama said, noting his own experience against Clinton in 2008.

President Obama didn't officially endorse Hillary Clinton when he taped Jimmy Fallon's show yesterday, according to the first clip that's out. The full interview will be released tonight

While President Obama has expressed that he wants to be on the campaign trail to hit Donald Trump, he's waiting until he speaks in person with Hillary Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders this morning

'You get a little ouchy,' he said.

Continuing to use the colorful vocab, Obama remembered his staff and supporter 'poppin' off' over something that somebody has said, 'and they start spinnin' stuff up.'

But Fallon cut to the chase.

'Now, is Bernie going to endorse Hillary?' the comedian asked.

'Is he ever going to drop out?' Fallon continued. 'Or he's gonna stay in?'

Obama noted that he and Sanders were going to meet on Thursday.