Obama, Merkel issue a joint rebuttal to the coming Trump era

November 18, 2016 00:30

US President Obama wrapped up his final visit to Europe on Thursday by issuing a plaintive warning to Western democracies not to take for granted our system of government and our way of life as he prepares to relinquish the international stage to his successor, President-elect Donald J Trump.

Democracy is hard work, Obama said at a news conference after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of his closest international partners. Ahead of their meeting, the pair had delivered a joint rebuttal to Trumps populist pledges, calling in a joint newspaper op-ed for more transatlantic cooperation on everything from security and climate change to fighting intolerance.

Obama tried to remain optimistic about the prospect of a Trump presidency, despite having sharply criticised him as temperamentally unfit for office during the long, bitter campaign.

Obama, without directly naming Trump, appeared critical of the political discourse in the United States, saying social media has made it easier to make negative attacks and simplistic slogans than it is to communicate complex policies.

On his last overseas trip as president, Obama met with Merkel, whom observers see as the heir apparent to his legacy as the leading global advocate of liberal democracy.

Ahead of a joint appearance later Thursday, the two penned an op-ed piece recognizing the painful side of freer trade along with a sober reality check.

The future is upon us, and we will never return to a pre-globalisation economy, they wrote.

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