Gregory Korte

USA TODAY

ATHENS — Americans have had seven days to come to terms with the election of Donald Trump as president. The Greeks have been dealing with their debt crisis for seven years.

The meeting of President Obama and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was so focused on the debt crisis that Trump's name didn't come up until halfway through their joint news conference in Athens on Tuesday.

"To be honest, I know very little of Donald Trump," Tsipras said, though he noted Trump's "aggressive manner and the manner in which he defended some unconventional points of view."

"Some have told me that I should have read his book before going to bargain in Brussels," the headquarters of the European Union, he said. He confessed he didn't read The Art of the Deal, "but I don’t know if that was decisive to the result."

Tsipras gave a long defense of his government's handling of the debt crisis, which has resulted in austerity measures that have caused the Greek economy to contract by a quarter. "After seven years, people cannot take any more austerity," he said. He said Obama's handling of the U.S. economy, which focused on stimulus and job growth, is a model Europe should follow.

"I know it's a painful and difficult time, especially for Greek workers and families, pensioners and young people," Obama said. He said austerity was not a sustainable strategy and advocated "some kind of debt relief mechanism," so Greece could have "the space to return to growth and start creating jobs again."

That's a message he'll have the opportunity to take directly to Greece's main creditor Wednesday, when Obama travels to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He'll act as an unlikely emissary of President-elect Trump, seeking to reassure anxious Merkel and other European allies that the United States will continue its bipartisan commitment to the North Atlantic alliance — regardless of Trump's campaign rhetoric that often suggested otherwise.

Obama says he's not responsible for Trump's rise to power

"In my conversation with the president-elect, he expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships," Obama said in a news conference before departing Washington on Monday. "I think that's one of the most important functions I can serve at this stage, during this trip, is to let them know that there is no weakening of resolve when it comes to America's commitment to maintaining a strong and robust NATO relationship."

During the campaign, Trump distressed NATO allies by suggesting that the United States could pare back its commitment to the 67-year-old treaty organization. Trump complained that European allies weren't paying their fair share on defense (Greece is one of five that do) and suggested NATO is stuck in a Cold War mentality unsuited to the modern-day threat of terrorism.

During a ceremonial courtesy call, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos thanked Obama for his support of Greece during the debt crisis. "I am certain that your successor, the new president of the United States, Mr. Trump, will continue on the same path," he said.

Trump casts long shadow over Obama's last foreign trip

Tsipras did an about-face from his previous criticism of Trump. In a speech in March, he said, "I hope we will not face this evil.”

Tuesday, the prime minister said he wouldn't repeat that criticism. "What we should be doing is building bridges, not walls," he said. "Not much is going to change in the relations between European Union, Greece and the United States of America."

Obama commended Greece for its compassionate response to the migration crisis and for its efforts to help resolve a 42-year dispute over control of the island nation of Cyprus.

"This is ultimately a negotiation between Cypriots: Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots," Obama said. He said the prospects for those negotiations "are the best that they’ve been in some time."

Obama attended a state dinner in his honor at Greece's presidential mansion Tuesday night as riot police clashed with about 3,000 protesters at Athens Polytechnic campus about 2 miles away.

"We are honored to be one of his last trips as a president of the United States — he is one of the most prolific presidents and world leaders and had a run of eight years without any scandal attached to his name," said Lina Patmali, 23, a shop employee in Athens. "He has broken barriers and respected human rights."

Julia Economopoulou, 42, who works in insurance in the Greek capital, praised Obama's message of democracy and unity.

“He mentioned the problems of the world, such as poverty, nationalism and rising populism and…our country is in the epicenter of these problems,” she said. “On the other hand, Greece is the place where democracy was born, so this is also symbolic."

Greece is the first stop in what's scheduled to be Obama's farewell foreign tour. He'll visit Germany on Wednesday, where he'll meet with Merkel and the heads of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. From there, he'll pivot to meet with Pacific Rim powers at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

Contributing: Marina Rigou and Nikolia Apostolou

Obama visit doesn't excite many Greeks still coping with an economic crisis