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- New details have emerged about the Trump-Obama White House meeting in November 2016.
- In a copy of Isaac Dovere's forthcoming book obtained by Insider, Obama tried "buttering Trump up."
- Obama pitched renaming the Iran Nuclear Deal the "Trump Anti-Nuclear Deal" to keep the US in it.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Former President Barack Obama attempted to flatter his way through his first meeting with then-President-elect Donald Trump in November 2016, according to a new book by The Atlantic staff writer Edward Issac-Dovere.
According to a copy of the "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump" obtained by Insider, Obama tried "buttering up Trump" in order to persuade him not to destroy some key aspects of his legacy.
One of those was the Iran Nuclear Deal, which Trump pledged to pull the United States out of during his 2016 campaign.
Obama reportedly tried penchant for slapping his name on everything he can, including buildings he doesn't own and steaks, to his advantage.
"Obama thought the plan was working while they were sitting there," Dovere writes. "When the Cuba reopening came up and Trump talked about the market opportunity for new hotels, Obama encouraged it. He'd laid it on thick about the Iran deal, walked him through provisions ... Rebrand it the Trump Anti-Nuclear Deal, Obama suggested. Make a few patches to Obamacare and call it Trumpcare."
Trump ended up pulling the US out of the deal anyway. Since Biden took office, Washington and Tehran have agreed on a path back to rejoining the deal, but that only involves a pair of working groups and remains far from where Obama left it upon leaving office.
Later in their meeting, Trump extended an invitation for Obama to come hang out with him in Florida post-presidency, according to the book.
"At one point Trump asked him how he'd spend his time out of office," Dovere writes. "Maybe they would see more of each other? Trump told him he'd be welcome anytime at Mar-a-Lago."
Relations between the two quickly soured once Trump took office, and while no meeting is publicly known to have happened, Obama did reportedly refer to Trump as a "corrupt motherf---er"' and a "f---ing lunatic."