President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that he and former President Barack Obama “probably do” like each other.
He was speaking to a reporter when he was asked about a viral video of the two presidents chatting during President Jimmy Carter’s funeral Thursday.
“I didn’t realize how friendly it looked,” said Trump from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
“I said, ‘Boy, they look like two people that like each other.’ And we probably do,” Trump said. “We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
An adviser to Obama did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
The staunch political rivals have frequently criticized each other in recent years, and Trump spread the so-called birther conspiracy theory about Obama, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.
Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying Obama was an “ineffective” and “terrible” president and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” in October.
The Obamas slammed Trump on the campaign trail last year. The former president has referred to Trump as a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.” The former first lady said during the campaign that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”
But not every exchange has been contentious.
In August, Trump issued unusual praise for his predecessor. He told CNN that he likes Obama, calling him “a nice gentleman” and saying he respects the Obamas.
After Trump’s first victory in 2016, Obama welcomed Trump to the White House. Obama told reporters at the time that the two had an “excellent” and “wide-ranging” conversation, and Trump told his predecessor, “It was a great honor being with you.”
Jesse Rodriguez contributed.
