--- title: President Obama: I'll Give Donald Trump Room to Govern description: President Obama said Sunday that he does not intend to interject frequently when he turns things over to President-elect Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/4578271/barack-obama-donald-trump-transition/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-21T12:55:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:54:46.596Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama: I'll Give Donald Trump Room to Govern, Unless... og:description: "I want to be respectful of the office" og:url: https://time.com/4578271/barack-obama-donald-trump-transition/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce740406f66c0bab/6988af30cf40a8799cc45a12/gettyimages-624759990.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7499 og:image:height: 4218 og:image:alt: Key Speakers At The APEC 2016 Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama: I'll Give Donald Trump Room to Govern, Unless... twitter:description: "I want to be respectful of the office" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce740406f66c0bab/6988af30cf40a8799cc45a12/gettyimages-624759990.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:04 video:published: 2016-11-20 section: politics topics: US interests worldwide, foreign policy discussion, Donald Trump criticism, Trump University, Romney criticism, political rhetoric, moving to Washington, exchange of views genre: news, political commentary tones: critical, harsh, serious, combative emotions: contempt (high), anger (medium), curiosity (low) sentiment: negative audience: political news followers, general news viewers, readers interested in US politics people: Donald Trump, Romney organizations: Trump University content_suitability: politics [00:40-00:53] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Obama: I'll Give Donald Trump Room to Govern, Unless... > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5b069abd-f9c9-4b2b-89d1-29bb0ac395d0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Mitt Romney Is Under ‘Active Consideration’ for Secretary of State [Watch (HLS stream): Mitt Romney Is Under ‘Active Consideration’ for Secretary of State](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FKLZytjB.m3u8) (1:04)  _Published 2016-11-20. Mitt Romney, former Republican presidential nominee, is under “active consideration” for secretary of state, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents a short segment about a conversation covering various theaters in the world where the United States has significant interests. It includes a harshly critical statement about Donald Trump, delivered to applause, that also criticizes Romney. The segment closes with a question about whether someone is moving to Washington. The transcript does not identify the speakers. ## Key points - A conversation was described as far reaching, covering various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance. (00:17) - The participants discussed those areas of U.S. interest and exchanged their views on those topics. (00:27) - A speaker calls Donald Trump a phony and a fraud. (00:40) - The same speaker describes Trump as a stone cold loser. (00:40) - The speaker says Trump's promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. (00:43) - The speaker says Romney choked like a dog, a line followed by applause. (00:47) - A question is asked about whether someone is moving to Washington. (00:49) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:40] Discussion of world interests. A speaker describes a far reaching conversation about global areas of significance to the United States and an exchange of views. - [00:40 to 01:04] Criticism of Trump and Romney. A speaker harshly criticizes Donald Trump and says Romney choked, followed by a question about moving to Washington. ## Key quotes - [00:17] unidentified speaker: "We had a far reaching A conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance." - [00:40] unidentified speaker: "Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud." - [00:40] unidentified speaker: "The guy's a stone cold loser." - [00:43] unidentified speaker: "His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University." - [00:47] unidentified speaker: "Romney choked like a dog, he choked." - [00:49] interviewer: "Are you moving to Washington?" ## Questions this video answers - What did the participants do after discussing areas of U.S. interest? [00:27] - How is Donald Trump characterized in the clip? [00:40] - What is said about Trump's promises? [00:43] - What is said about Romney in the clip? [00:47] - What question is asked at the end of the segment? [00:49] ## Content suitability - politics [00:40-00:53]: Harsh political insults directed at Donald Trump and a critical remark about Romney. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 21, 2016 12:55 PM UTC Mitt Romney, former Republican presidential nominee, is under “active consideration” for secretary of state, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 21, 2016 12:55 PM UTC [President Obama](http://time.com/4302043/barack-obama-2016-time-100/) said Sunday that he does not intend to interject frequently when he turns things over to [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/4574493/donald-trump-chaotic-transition/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod)—but that he will speak up in defense of American ideals. Speaking at a news conference in Peru, on what was the President’s final international trip in office, Obama offered praise for his predecessor George W. Bush, who he said “could not have been more gracious to me when I came in.” “I want to be respectful of the office and give the President-elect an opportunity to put forward his platform and his arguments without somebody popping off in every instance,” he said. Obama added: “If there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle, but go to core questions about our values and our ideals, and if I think that it’s necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, then I’ll examine it when it comes.” “But what I do know is, is that I have to take Michelle on vacation.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:17] We had a far reaching A [00:21] conversation with regards to the various theaters in the [00:24] world where there are interests of the United States of [00:27] real significance. We discussed those areas and [00:32] exchanged our views on those topics. [ MUSIC ] [00:40] Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. The guy's a stone [00:43] cold loser. His promises are as worthless as a degree [00:47] from Trump University. Romney choked like a dog, he [00:49] choked. 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