Former President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump had what appeared to be a warm conversation at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
Trump, 78, possibly wary of cameras facing the pair as they sat shoulder to shoulder, 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 lip reader 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 pulled out of Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the 2016 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 had tense relations for more than a decade, resulting in widespread surprise at their seemingly cordial interaction.
