--- title: Donald Trump: I Really Like President Obama description: Donald Trump has a newfound fondness for President Obama, repeatedly saying that he “really” likes his soon-to-be-predecessor canonical: https://time.com/4593552/donald-trump-person-of-the-year-barack-obama/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-07T14:11:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:29:31.725Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Says He ‘Really’ Likes President Obama og:description: “I really, I do like him. I love getting his ideas" og:url: https://time.com/4593552/donald-trump-person-of-the-year-barack-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5dcf43aa2512c8c/6988b210ab6d772e086ac2d8/donald-trump-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican presidential elect Donald Trump meets with og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Says He ‘Really’ Likes President Obama twitter:description: “I really, I do like him. I love getting his ideas" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5dcf43aa2512c8c/6988b210ab6d772e086ac2d8/donald-trump-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says He 'Really' Likes President Obama: 'I Love Getting His Ideas'  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 7, 2016 2:11 PM UTC  President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump talk to members of the media during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Nov. 10, 2016. President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump talk to members of the media during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Nov. 10, 2016.The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 7, 2016 2:11 PM UTC [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-choice/?xid=homepage) has a newfound fondness for President Obama, repeatedly saying Wednesday that he “really” likes his soon-to-be-predecessor, who he spent years savaging as a failure. Trump, who was revealed Wednesday as the 2016 TIME [Person of the Year](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/?xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter), said during a _Today_ show moments after his selection that he appreciates being able to pick Obama’s brain about future appointments to his administration and takes his recommendations “very seriously.” “I really like him,” Trump said of Obama. “We have really good chemistry together. We talk. He loves the country. He wants to do right by the country and for the country.” “I never met him before this, and I never spoke to him before this,” Trump added. “I really, I do like him. I love getting his ideas.” The remarks are a near about-face for Trump, who spent much of his campaign criticizing Obama and his policies as a “disaster.” Trump also spent years fueling the false conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the United States. The two leaders [met](http://time.com/4566620/barack-obama-donald-trump-white-house-meeting-photo/) for the first time last month at the White House, where they talked for 90 minutes. Trump said he disagrees with Obama on “policies and certain things,” but that he respected the outgoing president’s take on potential appointments, issues plaguing the country and the nation’s greatest assets. 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