U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with governors and members of Congress at the White House in Washington. U.S., April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump said late on Thursday he would only consider joining the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement if it were a “substantially better” deal than the one offered to President Barack Obama.

“We already have bilateral deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!” he wrote on Twitter.