WASHINGTON – (NewsBlaze) The phone tag between President Obama and President-Elect Donald Trump is building in intensity so much so that comparisons to the TV doctor, Dr. Phil, were made by the White House Press Secretary on Wednesday. The actual number of conversations is not being disclosed to protect the ability of the President to converse privately, but it did nothing to dampen the palace intrigue in Washington.
“This would probably make for an interesting episode of ‘Dr. Phil.’ (Laughter.) Not that I’m giving them any programming ideas – but they can take that one and run with it,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
The White House wasn’t disclosing the actual number of those calls but was asked by reporters for a very direct answer to that question. The White House bluntly deflected the question and Earnest protected his answer by saying he was “unintentionally ambiguous.”
“I would suggest that maybe we pursue a more fruitful line of questioning, respectfully,” Earnest said.
For his part earlier in the day, Trump was telling the Today show “I must tell you, you know, I never met him before this. I never spoke to him before this. I really – I do like him.”
On that subject of the amiability between the now political power phone buddies, the White House was directing reporters to ask that question at the potentially expected Presidential year end news conference expected to take place next Friday.
But for all of the non disclosure to reporters on Wednesday, the White House was eager to disclose their desire for a smooth transition in January.
“What I can speak to is the President’s ongoing commitment to coordinating effectively with the President-elect’s team and the President-elect personally to ensure a smooth and effective transition. And that’s included not just in the Oval Office meeting 36 hours after the votes were tallied, but it’s also included additional telephone calls between the two men and a variety of meetings at a variety of levels at agencies all across the federal government to give the incoming administration the best opportunity to get off to a running start,” Earnest added.
