--- title: How Will Donald Trump Govern? description: The question everyone is asking is: "How will he govern?" Donald Trump meets with President Obama today at the White House. canonical: https://time.com/4566063/how-will-donald-trump-govern/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-10T17:42:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:53:54.335Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Will Donald Trump Govern? og:description: The question everyone is asking is: "How will he govern?" Donald Trump meets with President Obama today at the White House. og:url: https://time.com/4566063/how-will-donald-trump-govern/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Will Donald Trump Govern? twitter:description: The question everyone is asking is: "How will he govern?" Donald Trump meets with President Obama today at the White House. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Will Donald Trump Govern? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=33df4bf3-b43e-452d-8406-5502dead262f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Barack Obama Talks Trump, Clinton and His Legacy on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee [Watch (HLS stream): President Barack Obama Talks Trump, Clinton and His Legacy on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0Pjm0U7j.m3u8) (5:30)  _Published 2016-11-01. President Obama stopped by Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on Monday, for his exit interview as President of the United States._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Nov 10, 2016 5:42 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Nov 10, 2016 5:42 PM UTC **_If you only read one thing:_** _The question everyone in Washington—in America—is asking today is: “How will he govern?” Many of the people around the President-elect are asking themselves the same thing. Donald Trump will take office as one of the most-well known president-elect’s in the nation’s history, but what is less known is what he will do there. The 2016 campaign was certainly light on the issues, with Trump offering a number of contradictory policies and little indication of what he will prioritize. But today might provide some answers. Trump is set to meet with President Obama today, while Vice President Joe Biden hosts VP-elect Mike Pence. Trump and Pence will also meet with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Those meetings, and the issues discussed, may provide a window into what Washington will look like under unified Republican leadership._ Trump’s team is triumphant, as they take credit for their victory and the “movement” Trump has come to lead. And Democrats are struggling to come to grips with a shocking upset, and to plot out what comes next for their wounded party. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [The Making of President Donald Trump ](http://time.com/4564440/donald-trump-wins-2/)TIME’s David Von Drehle on the shocker [Inside Donald Trump’s Stunning Upset ](http://time.com/4565973/how-donald-trump-won/)Only those closest to the candidate thought he could win \[TIME\] [How Hillary Clinton Lost ](http://time.com/4565978/how-hillary-clinton-lost/)TIME’s Philip Elliott: Hillary Clinton built a machine. The nation wanted a movement. [What’s Next for Democrats After the Clintons? ](http://time.com/4565964/whats-next-for-democrats/)TIME’s Sam Frizell tries to answer the question all Democrats are asking [Donald Trump Will Face Unprecedented Ethics Decisions as President ](http://time.com/4565981/donald-trump-ethical-decisions/)Business interest raise new questions about what he’ll do in the White House \[TIME\] [How Evangelicals Helped Donald Trump Win ](http://time.com/4565010/donald-trump-evangelicals-win/)The powerful voting bloc embraced the untraditional candidate, TIME’s Elizabeth Dias writes [Anti-Trump Protests Swell in Cities Across the U.S. ](http://time.com/4565747/anti-trump-protests-cities-new-york-chicago-oakland/)Unrest threatens to undermine peaceful transfer of power \[TIME\] **Sound Off** “I am looking forward to doing everything that I can to make sure that the next President is successful in that.” — President Barack Obama Wednesday “He just earned a mandate.” — Speaker of the House Paul Ryan Wednesday **Bits and Bites** [Joe Klein: What Comes Next With President Trump](http://time.com/4565959/president-trump-what-comes-next/) \[TIME\] [Ian Bremmer: Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy Is a Black Box](http://time.com/4564673/president-donald-trump-foreign-policy/) \[TIME\] [Japan Says Shinzo Abe Will Meet With Donald Trump Next Week in New York](http://time.com/4565883/donald-trump-shinzo-abe-election-meet/) \[Associated Press\] [Donald Trump’s Victory Speech: The View From Iraq](http://time.com/4565029/iraq-soldiers-mosul-donald-trump/) \[TIME\] [How Pro Athletes Reacted to Donald Trump’s Victory](http://time.com/4564781/sports-athletes-donald-trump-election/) \[TIME\] [Hillary Clinton Concedes, Leaving Democrats at a Loss](http://time.com/4565000/hillary-clinton-political-farewell/) \[TIME\] ## Transcript Here at Full Frontal, we have a long tradition, going all the way back to our first season. Where, I sit down and interview the President of the United States, before he or she leaves office. [ LAUGH ] This week, it was President Obama's turn. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] [ MUSIC ] Thank you so much for joining us for our annual Halloween presidential interview. It is so exciting. This year, I'm going as a witch. That's not a witch costume. I'm a woman on television and I'm over 40. [ LAUGH ] So I'm already in costume, where's yours? I'm dressed up as what happens when Young people vote. [ LAUGHTER ] That song gets really old really fast. That's not it. So is that, like, white spray paint or fun Halloween cobwebs up there? Sam, I'm still President for about 3 months. Careful. Yeah. [ LAUGHTER ] Look Sam, the reason I'm here is not just to celebrate Halloween with you, but is actually because I want to let first time voters know Why it is so important to vote. This is probably the most important election of our life times. The choices could not be clearer and if we want to build on progress, on issues like climate change and gender equality and making sure that everybody has health care and making sure that young people have a good education and can afford college They've gotta make sure that their voices are heard. So you are a father of a college student. I am. Sitting down with a 47- year- old mother of three. If this was your best idea to get young people to vote, what was your worst idea? [ LAUGH ] Have you thought about going on Antiques Roadshow? I haven't, but it turns out that young people actually Are more interested and engaged that I think we give them credit for. Sometimes they get cynical, hard to understand why after watching this campaign. You know, Melia, my oldest, she actually voted for the first time. The pride that she took, I think, in casting her ballot is a pride that I think a lot of young people feel. But you got to talk to them about the things that they care about. Talk to me as though I'm a millennial voter and get me interested in voting. Okay, because it's like I don't even know if there is like any point in voting. Like they're both so totally flawed like don't you even think it's time to like Append the whole system, and just, like, break everything? First of all, if you're worried about whether you can afford to go to college or not, then Hillary Clinton's got a very specific plan, and Donald Trump doesn't. If he cared about climate change, that's not a small thing, so young people have a bigger stake in this election than anybody. I would hope that you'd be willing to take About the same amount of time that you spend just looking through cat videos on your phone. [ LAUGH ] To make sure that the democracy's working. Sorry, I was just Snapchatting myself as a bottle nosed dolphin. [ LAUGH ] If and when Hillary is president, what do you think will be the female equivalent of You weren't born in this country. That's an interesting question. Thank you, I have a lot of those. [ LAUGH ] I think the equivalent will be she's tired, she's moody, she's being emotional. There's just something about here. There's something about her, when men are ambitious, It's just taken for granted. Well of course they should be ambitious, when women are ambitious. Why? That theme, I think will continue throughout her presidency. And it's contributed to this notion that somehow she Is hiding something. What a nasty woman. [ LAUGH ] After you wave off us, have you thought of just whispering in Donald Trump's ear, you were right, I wasn't born here. Just to like [ CROSSTALK ] [ LAUGH ] I think it's pretty [ UNKNOWN ] to [ APPLAUSE ] I will be organizing my post- presidency where I'm not close enough to him to whisper into his ear. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] That is fair. What would you like your legacy to be? Other than not having everything be overturned the day after inauguration. [ LAUGH ] I feel confident that we can build on the progress we've made around climate change, clean energy, healthcare. Making the economy work better for everybody. All that feels good to me, but the thing that I care most about is making sure that there's a generation of young people who are following me and Michelle. If we can look back 20 years from now and say to ourselves, wow, there are a whole bunch of people who were inspired by what we did and are doing it even better? That will feel pretty good. Probably also first American president to be interviewed by Samantha Bee, I'll put you down for that. That'll be big. That's huge. That's gonna have a prominent place in our library. Seeing as how this is our Halloween interview, can you tell us a spooky story about what happens if people don't vote? Donald Trump could be president. [ LAUGH ] Okay, that was very scary. Yeah. [ LAUGH ] I'm gonna make it even scarier for you. Okay, yeah. [ SOUND ] Supreme Court Justice, Carly Lewandowski. [ LAUGH ] Speaker of the House, Louie Gohmert. [ LAUGH ] That was pretty scary. I'm not sure I'm gonna sleep well tonight. [ LAUGH ] [ UNKNOWN ] Yeah. Can I lean in and give you a big fist bump? Absolutely. What? Boo- ya. Pretty exciting. That was very exciting. 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