LONDON – After proclaiming "I think we did OK" at a 20-nation economic summit, President Barack Obama is teaming up with the two European leaders who gave him the most grief over his failed bid for more recession-fighting stimulus, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Continuing an eight-day, five-country international trip, the president was visiting both France and Germany on Friday ahead of an annual NATO summit on Saturday.
First, it's Strasbourg, France, where Obama was to meet Sarkozy, then preside over a town-hall style meeting at a sports arena. Then it's off to nearby Baden-Baden, Germany, for a meeting with Merkel.
"We expect that the discussion will review the outcomes of the G-20 summit, preview the NATO summit and discuss a number of issues of mutual interest," said Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
On Saturday, the president is back in Strasbourg for the NATO event.
Sarkozy and Merkel resisted Obama's efforts to persuade the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations at the London summit to go along with more stimulus spending to help create jobs and ease the worst economic downturn in a generation.
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