Corey Blackman
18 October 2017•Update: 18 October 2017
By Magda Panoutsopoulou
ATHENS
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to the White House on Tuesday as the American leader hailed Greece’s economic recovery while standing next to the man who once called him “evil”.
Trump reaffirmed his support for a “responsible debt relief plan” at a joint news conference and said “a strong and flourishing Greece” is what is needed, one that “provides immense opportunity for American trade, investment and job creation”.
Greece has been the recipient of three bailout deals since 2010. It has worked to avoid bankruptcy with the financial help of the IMF, EU and the European Central Bank and borrowed what amounts to 260 billion euros ($306 billion).
The words of the American leader are a reversal of his previous comments long before he entered politics. He tweeted in 2012 that Greece should get out of the euro and go back to its own currency. "They are just wasting time,” he said at the time.
Ever the businessman, Trump said Tuesday there are tremendous opportunities for the U.S. and Greece. He said a productive discussion was conducted on cooperating on defense, energy, commerce and trade.
On the energy sector, Trump said he appreciates Greek contributions to European energy security through its support of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (GBI) and the liquefied natural gas facilities that are capable of transporting diverse sources of energy to Europe, including potential liquefied natural gas exports from the United States.
As Tsipras spoke after his host, there were no signs of his disdain for Trump’s “evil” set of ideas he criticized during his counterpart’s 2016 presidential election.
“Greek-U.S. relations may be at their best compared to the past,” according to Tsipras. “We look forward to attracting U.S. investments.”
Regarding Turkey, the Greek premier said: “We continue to support the Turkish course towards Europe. We respect it as a regional power, and we believe that it must stay oriented toward the European perspective, stably oriented to its collaboration with the west and stably oriented towards NATO.”
