Obama tells Trump US presidency is not a family business

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US outgoing President Barack Obama advised his successor Donald Trump not to attempt to run the White House like a "family business" in an interview with ABC broadcast Sunday.

Obama said the President-elect must understand the difference between campaigning and leading a country.

"What he has to appreciate is as soon as you walk into this office after you've been sworn-in, you're now in charge of the largest organization on earth…… You can’t manage it the way you would manage a family business."

Obama added that there are world capitals, financial markets and people around the world who take really seriously what the President-elect says.

On December 12, Trump tweeted a complaint about the costs of a new Boeing 747 Air Force One aircraft, and on the same day Boeing Stocks declined, albeit briefly. Stocks of Toyota also plunged after Trump blasted Toyota for a proposed Corolla factory based in Mexico on Twitter last Thursday.

This photo shows US President Barack Obama during a signing ceremony for the 21st Century Cures Act in Washington, DC, US, on December 13, 2016. /CFP Photo‍

Also Obama stated he believed his Obamacare health reform will survive a Trump presidency and a Republican-controlled Congress, saying he is “fine” with his signature healthcare law undergoing some tweaks and being renamed “Trumpcare”.

Trump has nominated a cabinet full of people who are viewed as opponents of Obama policies, on education, energy, environmental issues and more. The president said he hoped that Republicans would not just oppose things because "this was Obama’s agenda”.

“That’s what’s happening at the moment.” he conceded.

Regarding Trump’s controversial attitude to intelligence agencies’ report that Russia intervened in the US election, Obama expressed trust in such agencies.

“We have to remind ourselves we’re on the same team,” he said. “Vladimir Putin’s not on our team.”

US President Barack Obama meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on November 10, 2016. /CFP Photo

When asked if he liked Trump, Obama did not answer directly.

“You know, I’ve enjoyed the conversations that we’ve had. He is somebody who I think is not lacking in confidence, which is … probably a prerequisite for the job, or at least you have to have enough craziness to think that you can do the job.”

“I think that he has not spent a lot of time sweating the details of, you know, all the policies…”

Questioned if that worried him, Obama said he saw himself “more at the policy wonk end of the spectrum”, and said a lack of familiarity with policy details could be “both a strength and a weakness” for Trump.

“I think it’s fair to say that he and I are … sort of opposites in some ways,” he added.

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