Obama and Hillary Clinton have ‘catch-up chat’ at White House

U.S. President Barack Obama chatted with his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton at the White House on Monday, in a previously unannounced meeting.

"President Obama and Secretary Clinton enjoy catching-up in person when their schedules permit," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

"This afternoon they met privately for about an hour at the White House and discussed a range of topics."

Clinton, the firm favorite to lead the Democratic Party bid to replace Obama after the 2016 election, had been in Washington for an appearance with labor leaders.

There she called for a non-partisan struggle against economic inequality in one of her last speeches before she is expected to formally launch a White House bid.

Clinton has been under fire in recent weeks over revelations that she did not use an official email account while Obama's Secretary of State.

That led to allegations she may have been trying to dodge public disclosure records.

The White House has had to answer tricky questions about how much they knew about Clinton's private email account and server, and has sometimes appeared to seek to distance itself from the imbroglio.

Clinton is seen as the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination, although she has not officially started her campaign.