Trump beats Obama engagement with Congress, say friend and foe

President-elect Trump is taking a far more hands-on approach to working with Congress than his senator-turned-president predecessor.

President Obama spent four years in the upper chamber, working closely with many colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but when voters sent him to the White House, he notoriously gave Capitol Hill the cold shoulder. Former congressional colleagues, even some of his biggest supporters, often described him as distant and aloof, a no-drama leadership style that eschewed President George W. Bush's chummy nicknaming of lawmakers who he cultivated with regular White House lunch and dinner invitations.

Trump's direct, in-your-face engagement with likely allies as well as foes is already starting to break down some initial barriers on Capitol Hill and earning him high praise from early converts.

"There's no secret — I never had much interaction with President Obama or his administration," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., told the Washington Examiner. "It looks like President-elect Donald Trump is much more engaged — and he has no problem at all jumping on the phone with you."

Manchin, a conservative Democrat and top contender to become Trump's Energy secretary before former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was chosen, has met with Trump once in New York when under consideration for the Cabinet post. The incoming president also has phoned him two other times.