Americans are likely look back on the 2016 election a decade from now and realize that Donald Trump's way of thinking was wrongheaded, says President Barack Obama.
Trump is tapping into the 'frustrations and the fear' of an 'earlier generation that feels unsettled,' Obama told NPR.
The president said it's his belief, however, 'if we get the decisions that need to be made right, then 10 years from now, 20 years from now, we may look back at something like the Trump campaign as the last vestige of — a kind of politics of us versus them that really doesn't apply to — to today.'
Democrats must not get 'complacent' or 'smug,' though, he warned, and should take seriously the complaints of Trump and his supporters.
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Americans are likely look back on the 2016 election a decade from now and realize that Donald Trump's way of thinking was wrongheaded, says President Barack Obama. Obama is seen here in the Oval Office on Thursday
'I said on election night back in Grant Park, I'm president of everybody,' Obama recalled to NPR. 'I've got a particular point of view...I don't make any apologies for it.'
Obama said he believes he's kept that promise.
'And the core of that message is "e pluribus unum," out of many, one, that — that we are better when we are together, that I do not believe in tribalism. I do not believe in stoking divisions and scapegoating.'
Trump is the antithesis to the Obama presidency, hallmarked by its bear hug of tolerance and diversity.
But Obama said he does not believe that his policies are directly responsible for the popularity of Trump.
'You will hear sometimes people suggest that, well, if Democrats and Republicans had been paying attention to white, working-class voters, then something like Trump would not have happened,' the president observed.
It's a 'certain slice of the media' that's telling 'white, working-class voters somehow that these things are not good for you, that this is Obama and his socialist friends who are trying to take money from you to give to an undeserving, you know, Mexican immigrant or black welfare mom and — and tapping into — sort of an identity politics that, you know, is powerful and oftentimes can work.'
'But it is actually counterproductive, and it certainly does not reflect what we have been trying to do,' he protested.
The president said it's his belief if we get the decisions that need to be made right, then 10 years from now, 20 years from now, we may look back at something like the Trump campaign as the last vestige of — a kind of politics of us versus them that really doesn't apply to — to today'
Republicans who opposed those proposals now have a 'populist insurgency on their hands,' he said.
'And Mr. Trump, I think, has, at times, exploited this — this gap between what, you know, the Republican business community has promoted and — and what their constituencies are actually looking for.'
Obama said in the NPR interview that he continues to believes his political and philosophical opponent will be defeated in November, and will not, therefore, have the opportunity to forever change the trajectory of the nation.
'I think that will be tested over the next four months,' he acknowledged. 'But I think it is pretty hard to argue that somebody who almost three-quarters of the country think is unqualified to be president and has a negative opinion about it is tapping into the zeitgeist of the country, or is speaking for a broad base of the country.'
The outgoing president said, 'That's what elections are for,' though.
'I think it's important for Democrats, progressives, moderates, people who care about our traditions, who care about pluralism, who care about tolerance, who care about facts, who think climate change is real, who think that we have to reform our immigration system in an intelligent way, who believe ... in women's equality and equality for the LGBT community.
'I think it's important for those of us not to be complacent, not to be smug,' the liberal Democrat said.
The 54-year-old president is not without his regrets. 'I've been frustrated by some things that I did not complete, that I couldn't wrap and mail and ship before I got out of here,' he told NPR
Reflecting on the seven and a half years he's spent in office, Obama said, 'I think that America is at its best when we are unified and working together.
'And during the course of my presidency, you've seen polarization and division and all kinds of consternation and frustration. But what you've also seen quietly is a country that yanked itself out of a Great Recession and recovered as well as any country ever has from such a massive financial breakdown.'
Obama named his signature law, the health reform legislation commonly known as Obamacare, and the progress toward LGBT rights and the thawing of relations with Cuba as inflection points in the country during his presidency.
'We see an LGBT community that is — is recognized as equal in ways that they weren't before. You've seen an entire generation grow up, I think, feeling as if the old divisions don't make sense,' he stated.
Continuing he said, 'I feel pretty confident that as long as we do the work over the next several months and then continue that work over the next several years, that we will have emerged from this era stronger, more prosperous, more secure and adhering more closely to the values and ideals that make America exceptional.'
Of course, the 54-year-old president is not without his regrets.
'I've been frustrated by some things that I did not complete, that I couldn't wrap and mail and ship before I got out of here,' he stated.
Immigration reform, an infrastructure investment package and the leadership vacuum in Syria that helped make way for ISIS alluded him, he said.
'So there are things that we haven't gotten done. Obviously, there are — there areas internationally where I've been enormously frustrated. You look at Syria being the most prominent example, where you've got a heartbreaking situation and not a lot of good choices.'
Still, he was able to ink a nuclear deal with Iran, chip away at criminal justice reform and see 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' rescinded.
'You'd tally it up, it's not bad for 7 1/2 years' worth of work,' he said. 'And the stuff that has not gotten done, it's teed up to get done.'
He counts among those items climate change.
'Have we gotten it all done yet? No,' he admitted. 'But have we now given the next president, the next Congress, the next generation a chance to solve it? Absolutely.'
Obama said he thinks of himself as a relay runner. 'Sometimes, you take the baton and you're behind in the race, and you've got to run a little bit harder to catch up.
'Hopefully, by the time you pass on the baton, you're a little bit better positioned in the race,' he said. 'And I think there is a humility that comes out of this office, because you feel that no matter how much you've done, there's more work to do.'