Obama, Hillary Clinton lunch privately at White House

Washington, May 30: US President

and former secretary of state

had an "informal" and private

together at the

, media reported.

The meeting was not on the president's official agenda on Thursday, but the White House confirmed the lunch after a journalist with People magazine reported Clinton's presence via Twitter.

Clinton still has not announced whether she aspires to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for the 2016 election, but she has begun fundraising to help her if she does decide to mount a campaign and her name is being discussed by political analysts nationwide.

The 66-year-old Clinton, who lost the 2008 Democratic nomination to Obama in an acrimonious campaign, later reconciled with the president-elect and agreed to serve as his secretary of state during his first term.

If Clinton wins the nomination and then the presidency in 2016, and she is being viewed by many as the frontrunner at this early stage, she would succeed Obama in office.

IANS