President Donald Trump and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a joint White House Rose Garden press conference (CNSNews.com/Melanie Arter)

(CNSNews.com) - During a joint White House press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that some foreign countries were nervous about his presidency was because he would not allow the United States to be taken advantage of by other countries.

“The reason they were concerned was because I will not allow our country, the United States of America, to be taken advantage of by so many other countries all over the world,” Trump said.





During the Rose Garden press conference, a reporter asked Tsipras: “Mr. Prime Minister, with respect to the President, in March of 2016 you said, at the potential for a Donald Trump presidency, ‘I hope we will not face this evil.’ And I'm wondering if, after spending time with the president, you have changed your mind or if you're of the same mind.”



Trump joked: “I wish I knew that before my speech.”



Tsipras said he didn’t “feel threatened at any time” during his meeting with the president.



“The meeting I had with the president -- his approach and the way he addresses most publics -- the U.S. is a very strong power and their ability to intervene for good are very, very important. I want to confirm that the meeting that we had was very productive. Not a moment did I feel threatened at any time,” the prime minister said.



“I saw that there is a very fertile outlook here. In order to set aside any differences that we may have to find the common ground, the common ground which is really important for the relationship between our two peoples that are traditional and historical, and for our common objectives, we need common values -- we have common values, excuse me,” he said.



“Don’t forget that the value of democracy and freedom was born in Greece, and it's one of the basic values that traverses the American culture and American tradition,” Tsipras added. “The president today, of the U.S., continues this tradition, and I think our collaboration will be very substantial, and I'm very optimistic after our meeting that we had today.”



The president said “a number of countries” were nervous about his presidency at first.



“I might just add that a number of countries were a little bit nervous at the beginning, and I have very good relationships with the leaders of virtually every country I've dealt with, but the reason they were concerned was because I will not allow our country, the United States of America, to be taken advantage of by so many other countries all over the world,” Trump said.



He said he would not allow U.S. companies to move jobs overseas.



“If you look at our trade deficits -- massive trade deficits with virtually every country. If you look at our jobs moving out to certain countries, and the companies are leaving and they're firing the people, and the product is made elsewhere, and then it's sold back into the United States. I'm not going to be allowing that,” the president said.



“So I can understand how certain countries and the leaders of certain countries may feel, but we're just not going to allow the United States to be taken advantage of by other countries anymore, and there's nothing we can do about that,” Trump added.