President-elect Barack Obama (奥巴马 • Ao4ba1ma3) and his wife Michelle are welcomed to the White House (白宫 • bai2gong1)

On Monday, November 10th, 2008, George Bush, the President of the United States (美国总统布什在 • Mei3guo2 zong3tong3bu4shi2zai4), welcomed (欢迎• huan1yin2) President-elect (当选总统 • dang1xuan3 zong3tong3) Barack Obama and his wife (夫人• fu1ren5), Michelle (米歇尔 • mi3 xie1er3) Obama to a visit to the White House.

Obama and Bush met at the Oval Office (椭圆形办公室 • tuo3yuan2xing2 ban4gong1shi4) while first lady (第一夫人 • di4yi1fu1ren2) Laura Bush gave the future first lady a tour of the White House.

Obama ran as the candidate of the Democratic Party (民主党 • min2zhu3dang3). During the electoral process (选举过程 • xuan3ju3 guo4cheng2) he made numerous negative remarks about Bush while attacking his rival, the Republican candidate (共和党候选人• gong4he2dang3 hou4xuan3ren2). However, President Bush laid out the red carpet (了红地毯 • le5hong2 di4tan3) for Obama and treated him in a warm and hospitable (表现得热情好客 • biao3xian4 dei3 re4qing2 hao4ke4) way.

They both walked through the Rose Garden (玫瑰花园 • mei2gui5 hua1yuan2) before entering the Oval Office and on their way, they greeted and waved to news reporters.(记者 • ji4zhe3)

They have very important (十分重要 • shi2fen1zhong4yao1) differences in issues such as the war in Iraq (伊拉克战争• yi1la1ke4zhan4zheng1) and national security (国家安全 • guo2jia1an1quan2) as well as in their approach in dealing with the financial crisis (金融危机 • jin1rong2wei1ji1); however, the focus of the talks (会谈 • hui4tan2) was on economic issues as it is clear that it is of the utmost importance to stabilize the economy (稳定经济 • wen3ding4 jing1ji4)

Bush promised he will ensure a smooth transition of power (权力交接顺利过渡 • quan2li4 jia1jie1 shun4li4 guo4du4).