US President-elect Donald Trump stirred a simmering dispute with Barack Obama on Wednesday, accusing him of derailing a smooth transition with “inflammatory” remarks, before appearing to row back, reports AFP from Palm Beach. Ever since the November 8 election, Trump and Obama have tried to bury political differences in favor of a united public front that would smooth the transfer of power on January 20.
But the Republican president-in-waiting unceremoniously cast any cordiality aside in a morning Twitter tirade from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. In a declaration that is unprecedented in its personal condemnation of a soon-to-be predecessor, the 70-year-old tweeted: “Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks.” “Thought it was going to be a smooth transition - NOT!” But Trump later appeared to shift focus from his previous comments, stating the process was going “very, very smoothly.” Trump said he had spoken to Obama in what he described as “a very nice conversation... appreciated that he called.” “I actually thought we covered a lot of territory,” Trump said. “Our staffs have been getting along very well and I’m getting along very well with him other than a couple of statements that I responded to.
“We talked about it and smiled about it and nobody is ever going to know because we are never going to be going against each other.”
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the call “was positive and focused on continuing a smooth and effective transition,” adding the pair planned to keep in touch over the coming weeks. Tensions between Trump and the current White House have been growing for weeks as Obama has become more outspoken about a vitriol-filled election that saw Democrat Hillary Clinton suffer a shock defeat.
Obama—who is still the most popular politician in the country—recently suggested that he may have won a third term were he not constitutionally barred from doing so. That seems to have irked the notoriously thin-skinned president-elect. At the same time, the pair have competed to take credit for solid economic indicators.