Obama gathers key Europe leaders amid questions about Trump

The White House says it’s an “informal and private” dinner at Obama’s hotel. Journalists traveling with Obama aren’t being permitted to witness the event.

Greece’s government hoped Obama would help persuade some of Greece’s more reluctant creditors to grant debt relief – a message they hoped he’d stress in Berlin – and also pressure other European countries to share more of the burden of the migrant crisis.

Speechmaking on a grand scale has been a hallmark of Obama’s outreach to US voters and to the world, from a 2008 address in Berlin before his first presidential election, promoting a more multilateral approach than President George W. Bush’s administration, to his 2009 address in Cairo seeking Middle East peace and a reset for U.S.

Obama didn’t speak with reporters before departing for Peru on Air Force One.

Obama touched down in Berlin for a visit due to last until Friday, during which he will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain.

President Obama is stepping up his criticism of his soon-to-be successor.

Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Thursday she expects initial announcements of Cabinet choices to come “either before or after Thanksgiving” and told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, “It’s Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone who makes the ultimate decisions”.

“The insistence of European leaders to austerity policies keeps the European economy strapped in stagnation”. The ancient site will remain closed to the public for the day to accommodate the president’s visit.

Speaking after a tour of the Acropolis, Obama expressed “gratitude for all that Greece, this small great world, has given humanity through the ages”.

Still, Obama noted that he considered the European Union “one of the world’s great political and economic achievements”.

Police in Athens said they used tear gas and stun grenades to quell violent demonstrators who took to the streets overnight to protest against the United States and a visit by President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama has joined the leaders of major European countries in Germany to discuss an array of security and economic challenges facing the transatlantic partners as the United States prepares for Donald Trump to take office in January.

Around the world, many are looking to her – one of the longest serving leaders of a major world power, leader of Europe’s largest economy and one of the biggest USA trade partners – for leadership as Mr Obama leaves office.

In his speech Tuesday, Obama is also expected to laud Greece for its role in housing tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who are fleeing the civil war.

“Last I checked, a pretty healthy majority of the American people agree with my worldview on a bunch of things”, the POTUS said, adding: “My vision’s right on that issue and it may not always win the day in the short term, and in [this] particular political circumstance, but I’m confident it’ll win the day over the long term”. “My administration will do everything we can to support the smoothest transition possible”.

In the same way that democracies are based on the peaceful resolution of disagreements within society, so cooperation is the best way to resolve conflicts with nations, he said. All of which are freedoms that are protected by democracies.

“The current path of globalisation demands a course correction”, Obama said.

President Barack Obama says Greece’s acceptance of refugees has “inspired the world” – but it can not handle Europe’s migration problems alone.

“But all institutions in Europe have to ask themselves: ‘How can we make sure that people within individual countries feel as if their voices are still being heard, that their identities are being affirmed, that the decisions that are being made that will have a critical impact on their lives are not so remote that they have no ability to impact them?'”