Inside the Oval Office after Trump won: There were tears.
Reporting from Washington — There were tears in the eyes of some White House staffers as they gathered in the Oval Office on Wednesday morning, hours after Donald Trump was elected president in a stunning upset. President Obama scanned their faces for a moment before offering a word of comfort.
“He basically said, ‘This doesn’t undo what you have done,’ ” said a senior White House staffer.
Obama quickly urged them not to give into the passions of the moment, the staffer said, and instead to get busy — preparing to host the president-elect at the White House on Thursday and setting in motion a smooth transfer of government.
“We have jobs to do,” the aide said, and there’s no time to “give in” to feelings of disappointment about Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton, whose campaign was run by several former senior Obama aides and whose candidacy was seen as the best insurance of Obama’s legacy, heavily dependent on his executive actions on climate, foreign policy and other issues.
As the morning went on, senior officials said they thought of Obama’s exhortation to exhibit positive body language, both to younger aides and to the many Clinton supporters who are trying to figure out how to respond to the election results.
In the Rose Garden just after noon, more than 100 White House staffers filled the colonnade and lawn to hear Obama deliver a pep talk — to them and to the country.
Obama had begun working on his remarks early Wednesday morning, before he even called Trump around 3:30 a.m. EST. His comments at the lectern reflected the message he’d delivered privately that morning in the Oval Office.
“We’re not Democrats first, we’re not Republicans first, we are Americans first,” Obama said in a brief address from the Rose Garden, Vice President Joe Biden at his side. “We are patriots first. We all want what’s best for this country.”
When the moment was over, Obama and Biden turned away from the crowd and walked back through a set of French doors to the Oval Office, while staff members still outside applauded loudly for a full minute afterward. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough waded through the crowd of journalists, smiling and greeting people.
After the ovation, White House aides filed down the colonnade and back to their offices. Besides the Thursday visit, they also were preparing for Obama’s trip next week to Greece, Germany and Peru, during which he plans to to reassure leaders that the U.S. government is a solid institution and that he will help Trump ensure a smooth transfer of power.
After he returns to the U.S., Obama is expected to preach a message of unity at stops across the country and fight to ensure his biggest achievements remain intact.
One goal, according to a senior aide, is to make sure the public and the incoming administration understand what is working — and what Americans might miss if it is taken away.
Follow @cparsons for news about the White House.
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