--- 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: 2026-02-23T01:53:32.667Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: Donald Trump Needs to Stand Up to Russia by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 17, 2016 6:04 PM UTC  German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama attend a joint press conference at the Chancellery on November 17, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup—Getty Images German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama attend a joint press conference at the Chancellery on November 17, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup—Getty ImagesSean Gallup—Getty Images 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.” ```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":"2026-02-23T01:53:32.667Z","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":"/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"}}]}] ```