US President-elect Donald Trump visited Congress today and proclaimed that health care, border security and jobs will be his top three priorities when he moves to the White House next January.
Following a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House, Mr Trump and Vice president-elect Mike Pence sat down with House Speaker Paul Ryan and then with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the Republican priorities in Congress.
Mr Ryan and Mr Trump had a testy relationship during the campaign, with the House speaker last month saying he would not defend the nominee after Mr Trump's lewd comments about women were made public.
Now that he is the president-elect, Mr Ryan appeared friendly and gracious as they met, first over lunch and then in his Capitol office.
Mr Trump told reporters: "We had a very detailed meeting. As you know, health care - we're going to make it affordable. We are going to do a real job on health care."
Mr Trump made repealing Obamacare, and building a border wall between the United States and Mexico, pillars of his presidential campaign.
He said that he and the Republican majority in Congress were going to accomplish "absolutely spectacular things for the American people," adding he was eager to get started.
Afterwards, following an hour-long meeting with Mr McConnell on the other side of the Capitol, Mr Trump stood at the Senate majority leader's side and stressed that "we have a lot to do."
He said: "We're going to look very strongly at immigration. We're going to look very strongly at health care, and we're looking at jobs - big league jobs."
Mr McConnell said they discussed the transition operations and said "he's anxious to get going early, and so are we."
Mr Ryan for his part complimented Mr Trump on his astounding come-from-behind victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
He said: "We're going to turn that victory into progress for the American people, and we are now talking about how we are going to hit the ground running to get this country turned around and make America great again."
Congress returns to work next week, after an extended break for the US elections.
Trump and Obama hold talks at White House
Earlier, President Obama and Mr Trump held a 90-minute transition meeting in the Oval Office, with the outgoing president vowing his support after an "excellent conversation".
The Democratic US leader told the President-elect his administration would "do everything we can to help you succeed, because if you succeed, then the country succeeds".
Mr Obama said his talks with the billionaire political novice, held barely 36 hours after his upset election victory over Mrs Clinton, were "wide-ranging".
"We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy," Mr Obama said.
Trump and Obama hold talks at White House https://t.co/gjp3lKapII pic.twitter.com/ShODcvFpJU
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"We talked about some of the organisational issues in setting up the White House."
Mr Trump said the pair "discussed a lot of different situations - some wonderful and some difficulties," and that he looked forward to receiving Mr Obama's advice as he readies to assume office on 20 January.
"This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes," Mr Trump said.
"The meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. And it could have, as far as I'm concerned, it could have gone on for a lot longer."
"I have great respect," he added, saying: "I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel."
The two men ended the historic White House encounter with a handshake and refused to take questions.
Mr Obama had campaigned vigorously for Mrs Clinton, and called Mr Trump both temperamentally unfit for the presidency and dangerously unprepared to have access to US nuclear codes.
The meeting had potential to be an awkward one - the two had traded barbs during the heated campaign for the White House, with Obama describing the celebrity businessman as "uniquely unqualified" to be president.
Mr Trump, 70, championed the so-called "birther movement" challenging that Mr Obama was actually born in the United States - a suggestion laden with deep racial overtones - only dropping the position recently.
But in the day after Mr Trump's shock election win, which virtually no poll had predicted, both sides spoke of healing the deep divisions sown in the bruising two-year battle for the presidency.
Mrs Clinton, holding back the bitter disappointment of not becoming the first woman US president, urged the country to give Mr Trump a chance.
"We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead," she said yesterday in a concession speech.
Mr Trump headed from the White House to Capitol Hill for a lunch meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence was also to attend.
Mr Ryan, who had distanced himself from Mr Trump in the final month of the campaign, has pledged to "hit the ground running" and work with Mr Trump on conservative legislation.
The President-elect spent yesterday focusing on the transition during meetings with his staff at Trump Tower in New York.
After taking office, Mr Trump will enjoy Republican majorities in both chambers of the US Congress that could help him implement his legislative agenda and scrap or roll back Obama policies that he dislikes, such as the Affordable Care Act, the nuclear deal with Iran and US participation in the Paris agreement to fight global warming.
Trump invites Kenny to White House for St Patrick's Day celebrations
Earlier, Mr Trump issued an invitation to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to visit the White House for the traditional St Patrick's Day celebrations next year.
A Government statement said Mr Trump and Mr Kenny held a ten-minute phone conversation during which Mr Kenny congratulated Mr Trump on his election victory.
The statement said both men committed to working together to the mutual benefit of Ireland and the US.
"The President-elect confirmed to the Taoiseach that in the spirit of the strong ties between the two countries, the long-standing tradition of taoisigh attending the White House for St Patrick's Day celebrations would continue and extended an invitation to the Taoiseach in that regard for next year 2017," the statement read.
It is tradition for the Taoiseach to travel to Washington on 17 March to present the US president with a bunch of shamrocks, to symbolise close ties between the countries.
Under Ronald Reagan, the ceremony was transformed into all-day celebration including a luncheon in the US Capitol.
Mr Kenny this morning said he had a "very good" conversation with Mr Trump, who told him he is looking forward to "doing business" in Ireland.
Mr Kenny said the President-elect understands Ireland very well.
The Taoiseach said he had told Mr Trump that the Government will work closely with his administration, which will be appointed in January.
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Meanwhile, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said that he was optimistic Mexico could come up with a new, positive bilateral relationship with the US after the election of Mr Trump.
Mr Pena Nieto told a press conference: "I have real optimism that we will be able to build a new working agenda in the bilateral relationship that would be positive.
"It will also benefit the societies of both countries."
Yesterday, the Mexican President said that he and Mr Trump agreed to meet, possibly during the transition period before his inauguration in January.
Mr Pena Nieto said he had congratulated the Republican billionaire for his election victory during a "cordial, friendly and respectful" phone conversation.
"I agreed with the president-elect to meet, preferably during the transition period, to define with clarity the direction that the relationship between both countries should take," he said from his official residence.
A government official said the two men did not talk about Mr Trump's pledge to force Mexico to pay billions of dollars for a giant border wall.
But Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu reiterated earlier that "paying for a wall is not part of our vision."
Mr Nieto had told Mr Trump during a controversial visit by the candidate in August that Mexico would never pay for the wall.
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