Via Washington Post:
BERLIN — 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 here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of his closest international partners. Ahead of their meeting, the pair had delivered a joint rebuttal to Trump’s populist pledges, calling in a joint newspaper op-ed for more transatlantic cooperation on everything from security and climate change to fighting intolerance.
Speaking to reporters, Obama tried to remain optimistic about the prospect of a Trump presidency, despite having sharply criticized him as temperamentally unfit for office during the long, bitter campaign. The president had mocked Trump as unworthy of being trusted with the nuclear codes, as he was someone who could be “baited with a tweet.”