WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump had what appeared to be a warm conversation Thursday ahead of former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, but a professional lipreader told The Post their smiles and laughter belied more serious substance.
Trump, 78, possibly wary of cameras facing the pair as they sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the pews, cautioned Obama, 63, that they would have to “find a quiet place” later in the day to discuss a “matter of importance,” according to forensic lipreader Jeremy Freeman.
It’s unclear what precisely that conversation would entail, but Obama and Trump appeared to be discussing international agreements, according to Freeman’s translation.
At one point, Trump leaned toward Obama and said, “I’ve pulled out of that. It’s the conditions. Can you imagine that?”
Obama laughed as Trump added, “and after, I will,” before the pooled TV camera feed cut away from the men, who were bracketed by former first lady Laura Bush and Trump’s wife Melania.
“Call me at the foy after, yep,” Trump replied to Obama during their exchange, possibly referring to the National Cathedral’s foyer.
Obama then said, “can you just … it should be good.”
“I can’t talk, we have to find a quiet place sometime. This is a matter of importance and we need to do this outside so that we can deal with it, certainly, today,” Trump said, as Obama nodded.
During Trump’s first term, he notably withdrew from Obama’s Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, though it’s unclear if those pacts were what was being discussed.
Freeman, who is based in London, was born deaf and for 16 years has served as a University College London-certified expert witness for litigants, the police and journalists.
Trump and Obama have publicly had tense relations for years — with Trump accusing Obama of ordering the feds to “spy” on his 2016 campaign over alleged ties to Russia. He habitually refers to Obama by his full legal name, often emphasizing the middle name Hussein.
Obama, meanwhile, stunned viewers by appearing to make a lewd joke about his successor’s manhood by mocking his “weird obsession with crowd sizes” while holding his hands about four inches apart at the Democratic convention in August.
Obama also mocked Trump in October for delivering lengthy speeches “like Fidel Castro — just on and on” and his “constant attempts to sell you stuff,” such as golden sneakers and Trump Bibles.
