--- title: President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia description: President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a joint press conference on Thursday canonical: https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-17T18:04:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:54:34.349Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia og:description: President Obama urged his successor "to stand up to Russia when they deviate from international norms" og:url: https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b47bd0795225a2/6988aee2ab6d7738646abfe8/gettyimages-623849936.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4707 og:image:height: 2648 og:image:alt: U.S. President Obama Meets With Angela Merkel og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia twitter:description: President Obama urged his successor "to stand up to Russia when they deviate from international norms" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b47bd0795225a2/6988aee2ab6d7738646abfe8/gettyimages-623849936.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=cc4bb25a-b2c0-4adf-8382-9ec539df676b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Obama Says Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia [Watch (HLS stream): Obama Says Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Lbh6koIB.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2016-11-17. President Obama stood with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver a stark message to his successor: it’s time to stand up to Russia._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 17, 2016 6:04 PM UTC President Obama stood with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver a stark message to his successor: it’s time to stand up to Russia. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 17, 2016 6:04 PM UTC [President Obama](http://time.com/4573569/barack-obama-greece-trip-election/) stood with [German Chancellor Angela Merkel](http://time.com/4484167/angela-merkel-germany-elections-refugees/) to deliver a stark message to his successor: it’s time to stand up to Russia. The U.S. leader said at a press conference on Thursday that he has attempted to take a “constructive approach” to the country’s relationship with Russia and he hopes that continues under [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/4573889/donald-trump-potential-victories/). “My hope is that the President-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach,” Obama said. “That the President-elect is also willing to stand up to Russia when they deviate from international norms.” U.S. officials have accused Russia of meddling in the presidential election, something President Obama said he raised in a recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There’s clear proof that they had engaged in cyberattacks,” Obama said Thursday. Obama, who was in Germany during his final international trip while in office, also reflected more generally on Trump’s election and how it connects to global changes and the “bumpy phase” many countries are experiencing. “I think that our politics everywhere are going to be going through this bumpy phase, but as long as we stay true to our democratic principles, as long as our elections have integrity … as long as there are checks and balances in our governments,” he said, “I have confidence that over the long term progress will continue.” ## Transcript [00:01] My hope is that the president- elect coming in takes [00:07] a similarly constructive approach. Finding [00:12] areas where we can cooperate with Russia, where our [00:15] values and interests align. [ SOUND ] [00:20] But the President Elect also is willing to stand up to Russia [00:23] where they are deviating from our values and [00:27] international norms. And I [00:33] don't expect that the President Elect will follow exactly, Our [00:38] blueprint, or our approach. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:42] But my hope is, is that he does not simply [00:48] take a real politic approach, and suggest that if [00:53] we just cut some deals with Russia, Even if it [00:57] hurts people or even if it violates international norms or [01:01] even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable. Or [01:05] creates long term problems in regions [01:10] like Syria that we just do whatever is convenient at the [01:12] time. And that will be something that. [01:17] I think we'll learn more about as the [01:21] President Elect puts his team together. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/"},"headline":"President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia","datePublished":"2016-11-17T18:04:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T06:54:34.349Z","description":"President Obama urged his successor \"to stand up to Russia when they deviate from international norms\"","url":"https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","Obama","Germany","angela merkel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b47bd0795225a2/6988aee2ab6d7738646abfe8/gettyimages-623849936.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b47bd0795225a2/6988aee2ab6d7738646abfe8/gettyimages-623849936.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Obama Meets With Angela Merkel","caption":"U.S. President Obama Meets With Angela Merkel","creditText":"Sean Gallup—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/","name":"President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Obama Says Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia","description":"President Obama stood with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver a stark message to his successor: it’s time to stand up to Russia.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Lbh6koIB/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-11-17T18:31:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Lbh6koIB.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/","duration":"PT1M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```