White House confirms Obama called Clinton on election night

The White House confirmed on Monday that President Obama called Hillary Clinton on the night of the election, though press secretary Josh Earnest wouldn’t comment on the content of the discussion. 

{mosads}The Hill reported last week that during the call, Obama urged Clinton to concede to Donald Trump. 

“I saw that report. I can tell you that President Obama did have a conversation with Secretary Clinton on election night,” Earnest told reporters at the White House briefing on Monday.

Though he did not dispute The Hill’s report, he did say: “Nobody is going to tell Secretary Clinton what to do.” 

“I don’t have anything to add to characterize the content of the phone conversation. I can tell you the president did call Secretary Clinton on election night, but I can’t shed any light on the content of their conversation,” Earnest said. 

“I can just tell you that when I was reading the story my reaction was that in a situation like that nobody is gong to tell Secretary Clinton what to do. She is going to decide what to do.” 

Top aides told The Hill that Obama called Clinton late on Election Day to say “you need to concede.” 

Clinton ultimately called Trump to acknowledge her defeat in the early morning hours Wednesday.

The White House issued a statement on Election Night saying the president spoke with Clinton to express “admiration for the strong campaign she waged throughout the country.”

This post was updated at 3:09 p.m.