President Trump says the U.S. stands with Greece as they recover from their economic crisis. He is speaking with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the White House in a joint news conference.
The U.S. president says the two leaders have discussed defense, energy, commerce and trade.
Trump is praising Greece for its defense spending under NATO and is noting a potential sale to Greece to upgrade its F-16 aircraft, which he says would be worth up to $2.4 billion and generate thousands of U.S. jobs.
Tsipras says his country has made economic strides and is "leaving behind the economic model that led to the crisis." He says Greece's relationship with the U.S. is "more important than ever."
Last year, Tsipras called Trump representative of an "evil" set of ideas that didn't have a true place in modern-day western democracy, but now Greece — in the midst of an economic crisis — has to work with Trump. The Trump-Tsipras meeting comes as Trump calls on NATO nations to invest more in their own defense, although Greece is one of the few nations that does contribute at least 2%. Trump has indicated the U.S. may increase its investment in NATO, an entity he once called obsolete before reversing his position on its existence.
(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)
