--- description: President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a joint press conference on Thursday in Berlin. title: Read President Obama's Comments Urging Donald Trump to Stand Up to Russia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4b81fc8c429e79/6988aeed656a3f2336bcde59/merkel-obama-press-conference-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read President Obama's Comments Urging Donald Trump to Stand Up to Russia by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 17, 2016 7:40 PM CUT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) listens while US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on November 17, 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) listens while US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on November 17, 2016.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 17, 2016 7:40 PM CUT [President Barack Obama ](http://time.com/4573569/barack-obama-greece-trip-election/ "undefined")and [German Chancellor Angela Merkel ](http://time.com/4484167/angela-merkel-germany-elections-refugees/ "undefined")gave a [joint press conference](http://time.com/4575067/president-obama-donald-trump-russia/ "undefined") on Thursday in Berlin, showing a united front in the face of global changes including [Donald Trump’s election](http://time.com/4574302/donald-trump-north-korea-kim-jong-un-nuclear-weapons/ "undefined") and stating the importance of being able to “stand up” to Russia. Obama finished his last trip to Europe with the press conference with Merkel, his longtime ally. He remained positive about the transition of power in the U.S. when he spoke to reporters, though he also described the negative effects of social media on recent political discussion in the U.S. Merkel and Obama held the conference at the German Chancellery in Berlin. Read the full transcript of their remarks below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4575287/president-obama-donald-trump-speech-transcript-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4575287/president-obama-donald-trump-speech-transcript-2/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Comments Urging Donald Trump to Stand Up to Russia","datePublished":"2016-11-17T19:40:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:53:45.800Z","description":"The President had firm final words for the end of his last European trip in office","url":"https://time.com/4575287/president-obama-donald-trump-speech-transcript-2/","keywords":["2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","White House","Germany","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4b81fc8c429e79/6988aeed656a3f2336bcde59/merkel-obama-press-conference-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4b81fc8c429e79/6988aeed656a3f2336bcde59/merkel-obama-press-conference-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"merkel obama press conference transcript","caption":"merkel obama press conference transcript","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/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/4575287/president-obama-donald-trump-speech-transcript-2/","name":"Read President Obama's Comments Urging Donald Trump to Stand Up to Russia"}}]}] ```