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Obama worried with foreign leaders about Trump. The president has proved them right.

July 3, 2018

On his final foreign trip as president, Barack Obama met allies shellshocked and uncertain about what was going to happen to the United States, and the world, with Donald Trump taking office. In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Obama she was likely to seek another term, in part to defend the liberal international order.

After saying a last goodbye, Obama lamented to me about his closest partner in the world: “Angela, she’s all alone.” In their final meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Obama that he was prepared to extend a hand to President-elect Trump but that he was also prepared to assume a higher profile on the world stage if necessary. “You’re going to have to speak out,” Obama told him, “when certain values are threatened.”