--- description: President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on Friday stood at the steps of the White House to greet President-elect Donald Trump and his wife title: See Barack and Michelle Obama Greet Donald and Melania Trump at the White House image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4246a738d7f4e2b1/6988b659bc6cfc24363dfda5/obama-trump-greet-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See Barack and Michelle Obama Greet Donald and Melania Trump at the White House  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 20, 2017 3:36 PM CUT  Melania Trump, bearing a gift from Tiffany & Co., greets President Obama before President Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Melania Trump, bearing a gift from Tiffany & Co., greets President Obama before President Trump's swearing-in ceremony.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 20, 2017 3:36 PM CUT [President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama](http://time.com/4640751/president-michelle-obama-presidential-center-video/?xid=homepage "undefined") on Friday [stood at the steps of the White House](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/obamas-greet-trumps-at-white-house/2017/01/20/c798816e-df1f-11e6-8902-610fe486791c%5Fvideo.html "undefined") to greet President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania as they prepared to vacate the home they lived in for eight years. The Obamas shook hands, embraced and had small talk with their successors about 10 a.m. “Mr. President-elect, how are you?” Barack Obama asked Trump. “Good to see you. Congratulations.” “How was church?” Obama later asked Trump. Melania handed Michelle Obama a gift and the four posed for a photo before Barack Obama led the group into the White House. Donald Trump will be [sworn in](http://time.com/4640703/donald-trump-inauguration-day-2017/?xid=homepage "undefined") as President of the United States later Friday during an official inauguration ceremony. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4640816/obama-greets-trump-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4640816/obama-greets-trump-white-house/"},"headline":"See Barack and Michelle Obama Greet Donald and Melania Trump at the White House","datePublished":"2017-01-20T15:36:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:38:14.769Z","description":"Melania Trump handed the Obamas a gift","url":"https://time.com/4640816/obama-greets-trump-white-house/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4246a738d7f4e2b1/6988b659bc6cfc24363dfda5/obama-trump-greet-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4246a738d7f4e2b1/6988b659bc6cfc24363dfda5/obama-trump-greet-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-OBAMA-TRUMP-INAUGURATION","caption":"US-POLITICS-OBAMA-TRUMP-INAUGURATION","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4640816/obama-greets-trump-white-house/","name":"See Barack and Michelle Obama Greet Donald and Melania Trump at the White House"}}]}] ```