US president-elect Barack Obama met President George W. Bush for face-to-face talks at the White House, with help for the ailing US auto industry reportedly a top issue.
Obama, who routed the incumbent's fellow Republican John McCain in the November 4 election, made the visit as part of preparations ahead of his swearing in as president on January 20.
The carefully choreographed political truce came as Obama's advisers pored over eight years of Bush decisions with an eye to what policies should be rolled back.
Bush decisions that could be reversed include curbs on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and moves to open new lands to oil drilling.
The president and the president-elect met privately without note takers for about an hour in the Oval Office.
Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs would only say that the two had discussed the proposed economic stimulus package, the difficulties of the auto industry, housing foreclosures and foreign policy issues.
But The New York Times, citing unnamed people familiar with the discussion, reported Tuesday that Obama had asked Bush for immediate aid for the struggling US auto industry — and that Bush had said he could support that move in exchange for approval of a free-trade agreement with Colombia, currently stalled by Democrats in Congress.
Bush officials have been reluctant to grant ailing US automakers access to the 700-billion-dollar financial system bailout fund, even though the Democrats say the government has the authority to do so.
However neither Obama nor the Democrats in Congress seem willing to bend on Colombia, the Times wrote.
US labor unions, who are among the Democrats' core constituents, oppose the agreement because of the numerous murders of trade union members at the hands of right-wing paramilitary squads. Some commentators say these death squads are often linked to the Colombian armed forces.
Obama and wife Michelle arrived about 10 minutes early for their two-hour White House visit. The president and First Lady Laura Bush warmly welcomed the Obamas at the South Portico, a gateway to the mansion for many world leaders.
As their wives took a tour of the 132-room residential area, the 43rd president and his successor strolled along the Rose Garden and into the Oval Office.
Gibbs said the president-elect, who has a keen sense of history, was impressed with his first-ever visit to the Oval Office.
“What he said to me is it's a really nice office,” said Gibbs.
Before Obama left the White House, the two men returned to the Oval Office, Gibbs said.
Bush described the talks as “good, constructive, relaxed and friendly,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
“They spoke about both domestic and international issues, though since it was a private meeting the White House will decline to comment on specifics.”
Bush also showed Obama the White House living quarters, including the office the president uses, the Lincoln Bedroom, and the rooms for Obama's two young daughters, said Perino.
Bush “enjoyed his visit with the president-elect, and he again pledged a smooth transition to the next administration,” said Perino.
Obama in turn thanked Bush “for his commitment to a smooth transition and for his and First Lady Laura Bush's gracious hospitality,” said transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter.
The talks focused on ensuring a smooth transition given the country's economic and national security challenges, Cutter said in a statement.
Laura Bush showed Michelle Obama around the residential section and talked about raising children in the White House, said Cutter.
Obama's daughters Sasha, 7 and Malia, 10, will be the youngest children living in the presidential mansion since Jimmy Carter's daughter Amy, then 9, moved into the White House in 1977.
The Obamas flew in from their hometown of Chicago for the visit and flew back shortly after.
With Bush and Laura Bush standing outside on the sunny but chilly day, Obama's armored limousine pulled up and the 44th president got out first, then held the door open for his wife Michelle, who was wearing a bright red dress.
The Monday meeting came sooner after the election than usual, and far earlier than Bush's own similar talks with then-president Bill Clinton, which had to await a Supreme Court ruling that ended the botched 2000 election.
As Obama prepared to fly back to Chicago, he held a previously unannounced private one-hour meeting at the fire station at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, but no information was released on whom he had met.
