President Obama's Final Foreign Tour, Protecting His Achievements From Trump, Mike Pence's Email Troubles and More

President Obama expected a different final two months in office, but with a President-elect Donald Trump, his workload has changed dramatically. Obama is now scrambling to simultaneously protect some semblance of a legacy that the New York businessman has promised to undo while also using his final foreign tour to reassure allies that there will be a smooth transition from one administration to another that will remain friendly. Add on top of that Obama is reportedly highly concerned that Trump (and his staff) was blindsided as to the full duties of the Oval Office, leaving the outgoing president with a self-imposed requirement to train the president-elect and work harder on the transition than previously planned.

Yet, on Monday, Obama struck a positive tone about Trump, saying, “I think he’s sincere in wanting to be a successful president and moving this country forward.” He added: “I don’t think any president ever comes in saying to himself, ‘I want to figure out how to make people angry or alienate half the country.’”

Obama also noted that he believes Trump, despite his controversial statements throughout the campaign season, is not as dogmatic as he may have appeared. “I don’t think he is ideological. I think, ultimately, he is pragmatic,” Obama said. “And that can serve him well as long as he has got good people around him and he has a clear sense of direction.”

Top Stories

Obama Races to Protect His Achievements From Trump: "From the Iran nuclear deal to the Paris climate change agreement to Obamacare, President Obama and his team plan to spend the next two months aggressively defending and implementing these policies, despite President-Elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to end them once he takes office." (NBC News)

Trump’s First Ambassador: Barack Obama: "President Barack Obama is setting out on what was supposed to be a fun post-election farewell trip to Greece and Germany with not just his entire domestic record at risk of being gutted by President-elect Donald Trump, but transatlantic new order he cultivated is in the midst of being rejected. His failure to convince people against Brexit no longer looks like a fluke: British voters recoiled at his campaigning for Remain in the spring, and last week, many from his own coalition of voters weren’t compelled by his warnings that Trump would be a threat to all the progress his administration had made and to the safety of the world." (Politico)

Trump and Putin Speak by Phone, Say They’ll Work Together to Improve Relations: "President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone conversation Monday that relations between their countries were 'unsatisfactory' and vowed to work together to improve them, the Kremlin said in a statement." (The Washington Post)

After Blasting Clinton, Pence in an Email Battle of His Own: "Vice President-elect Mike Pence is embroiled in a legal challenge stemming from his decision to withhold information from a public records request in a case local Democrats say raises the specter of the Indiana governor shielding all of his emails from public view. It's a bit ironic as Pence, along with running mate President-elect Donald Trump blasted their way into the White House in part by hammering away at Democrat Hillary Clinton's own email scandal." (CNN)

From the Twitterverse

Former NBC reporter Luke Russert on Gwen Ifill and his father, Tim Russert:

Today's Numbers

• Russian economy minister charged with extorting a $2 million bribe.
• In the third quarter, Home Depot Inc. earned $1.97 billion, or $1.60 per share, which was 2 cents better than Wall Street had expected.
• Hack exposes 412 million adult website user credentials.
• According to new FBI statistics, hate crimes in the U.S. rose by 6.8 percent last year, with attacks against Muslims increasing by 67 percent.

Quote of the Day

President Obama on Gwen Ifill:

"I always appreciated Gwen's reporting even when I was at the receiving end of one of her tough and thorough interviews," Obama said. "She was an especially powerful role model for young women and girls who admired her integrity, her tenacity and her intellect."

Allen McDuffee is a politics and policy reporter, investigative journalist, blogger and podcast host. He has written for The Atlantic, Wired and The Washington Post. Follow him on Twitter: @AllenMcDuffee

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons