--- description: President Obama on Tuesday said world leaders should learn from the U.S. presidential election and pay attention to the economic concerns title: Read President Obama's Speech Saying Donald Trump Tapped Into Economic Fear image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7effc17c02e60702/6988ae8f8e06010ffc468444/president-obama-greece-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 Speech Saying Donald Trump Tapped Into Economic Anxiety  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 15, 2016 5:24 PM CUT  President Barack Obama walks with Greek National Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, right, and Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff after his arrival at the Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos on Nov. 15, 2016 in Athens, Greece. President Barack Obama walks with Greek National Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, right, and Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff after his arrival at the Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos on Nov. 15, 2016 in Athens, Greece.Milos Bicanski/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 15, 2016 5:24 PM CUT President Barack Obama on Tuesday said [world leaders should learn from the U.S. presidential election](http://time.com/4571422/president-obama-greece-donald-trump/?xid=homepage "undefined") and pay attention to the public’s fears and [frustration about the economy](http://time.com/4495507/donald-trump-economy-speech-transcript/ "undefined"). “President-elect Trump tapped into that particular strain within the Republican Party and then was able to broaden that enough and get enough votes to [win the election](http://time.com/4563685/donald-trump-wins/ "undefined"),” Obama said, speaking at a press conference in Athens, Greece with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “The lesson I draw, and I think people can draw a lot of lessons, but maybe one that cuts across countries is we have to deal with issues like inequality, we have to deal with issues of economic dislocation, we have to deal with people’s fears that their children won’t do as well as they have.” Obama also raised questions about whether the election of Trump or the “Brexit” vote in the U.K. will ultimately offer solutions to the people who voted for them. “Time will now tell whether the prescriptions that are being offered, whether Brexit or with respect to the U.S. election, ends up actually satisfying those people who have been fearful or angry or concerned,” he said. Read Obama’s and Tspiras’ full remarks here: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4571676/president-obama-donald-trump-economic-anxiety/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4571676/president-obama-donald-trump-economic-anxiety/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Speech Saying Donald Trump Tapped Into Economic Anxiety","datePublished":"2016-11-15T17:24:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:50:11.370Z","description":"\"We have to deal with people's fears that their children won't do as well as they have\"","url":"https://time.com/4571676/president-obama-donald-trump-economic-anxiety/","keywords":["2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","White House","Greece","Donald Trump","transcript","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7effc17c02e60702/6988ae8f8e06010ffc468444/president-obama-greece-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7effc17c02e60702/6988ae8f8e06010ffc468444/president-obama-greece-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Visits Greece For His Last Foreign Trip","caption":"President Obama Visits Greece For His Last Foreign Trip","creditText":"Milos Bicanski/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/4571676/president-obama-donald-trump-economic-anxiety/","name":"Read President Obama's Speech Saying Donald Trump Tapped Into Economic Anxiety"}}]}] ```