Photo: AP Obama is currently taking part in a two-day state visit to Argentina to meet with new leader President Mauricio Macri (center right) in the hopes of fostering closer relations with the emerging economy
The
Obamas also shared at candlelit dinner with Macri and Awada at the
Centro Cultural Kirchner, named after Argentina's former President and
Marci's predecessor, in the country's capital this evening.
The
group paused for a photo opportunity on a red carpet on their way in
with Obama and Marci dressed in suits and Michelle and Awada in
glamorous evening dresses.
Obama has
defended his actions, saying that ISIS does not represent an existential
threat to the U.S., and instead chose to devote his time to more
'productive' activities, such as building relations with Latin America
Obama is taking part of a tour of
South American nations as an alliance-building exercise. Yesterday he
watched a baseball game played in Havana, Cuba, after decades of frosty
relations came to an end
Obama has continued with his planned
foreign diplomacy meetings in recent days despite criticism that he
should have returned home in the wake of the terror attacks in Brussels
As activists burned American flags a
few streets away, Obama clinked champagne glasses with Marci in a
candlelit room of the Centro Cultural Kirchner
Argentina's President Mauricio Macri
and US President Barack Obama toast each other during a state dinner at
the Kirchner Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires, named for the country's
former president
Michelle Obama speaks with Argentina's
President Mauricio Macri as Obama attempts to tighten relations with
the country's new leader following on from years of often-fraught
relations under predecessor Cristina de Kirchner
Obama sits down to dinner next to
Argentine first lady Juliana Awada after ignoring calls to return home,
saying ISIS is not an 'existential threat' to the U.S. and instead
preferring to tighten diplomatic ties will allies, which he sees as more
important
Obama is currently taking part in a
two-day state visit to Argentina to strengthen diplomatic ties despite
terror attacks in Europe
Photo: EPA
Michelle raises a glass of champagne as guests take their places for a state dinner in Buenos Aires this evening
Michelle raises a glass of champagne as guests take their places for a state dinner in Buenos Aires this evening
Obama looks into the camera while attending a state dinner in Buenos Aires with Argentine President Mauricio Macri this evening
Obama toasts guests at the Centro Cultural Kirchner during a state dinner as part of a two-day visit to Argentina
'That's
hard to do because we see the impact in such an intimate way of the
attacks,' he acknowledged. 'But we defeat them in part by saying: you
are not strong, you are weak.'
'We send a message to those who might be inspired by them to say, you are not going to change our values.'
Obama began the second leg of his trip abroad this morning, meeting with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri in Buenos Aires.
Macri
greeted Obama at Casa Rosada, the office of the president, and the two
leaders proceeded to engage in closed-door talks. This afternoon they
held a customary press conference afterward and will participate in a
state dinner together in the evening.
President Barack Obama deflected
criticism today of his foreign travel in the wake of Belgium's terror
attacks, saying the U.S. must show ISIS that it does not have power over
its citizens
Pointing in the direction of
Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, who was standing to his left at a
joint news conference this afternoon in Buenos Aries, Obama said, 'It's
important for the United States president and the United States
government to be able to work with people who are building and who are
creating things'
President Barack Obama was pictured
dancing the tango this evening at a state dinner in Buenos Aires as he
pushed ahead with his two-day state visit to the country despite
intensifying calls for him to return home following the Brussels terror
attack
Obama has defied his Republican
critics who accuse him of ignoring the threat America faces from
terrorism by saying ISIS is 'not an existential threat' to the U.S., and
insisting that building relations with allies such as Argentina is more
important
Obama (pictured dancing the tango in
Buenos Aires as wife Michelle dances behind him, right) has appealed for
calm in the wake of the attacks in Brussels, saying that by reacting
with fear other politicians are playing into the terrorists' hands
First Lady
Michelle Obama, right, is greeted by Argentine First Lady Juliana Awada,
left, during a meeting at the Centro Metropolitano de Diseno
(Metropolitan Design Center) in Buenos Aires today
Macri took office just three months
ago, in December, but he and Obama looked like they were becoming fast
friends today as the U.S. president visited Casa Rosada for the first
time
Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, John Kasich
and even former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani have all lined up to blast
Obama's response to the terror attacks after he was pictured at a
baseball game yesterday, and dancing the tango Wednesday evening
Guests cheer and clap as Barack and
Michelle Obama dance the tango during a state dinner in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, on Wednesday
US President Barack Obama dances tango with a dancer during a state dinner at the Kirchner Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires
President Barack Obama and first lady
Michelle Obama dance with tango dancers during the State Dinner at the
Centro Cultural Kirchner
Photo:AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama began the second leg of his trip abroad this morning, meeting with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri in Buenos Aires
Macri greeted Obama at Casa Rosada,
the office of the president, and the two leaders are now engaged in
closed-door talks. They'll hold a customary press conference afterward
and participate in a state dinner together this evening
The Commander-in-Chief said he's directed his team to look at 'every strategy possible to successfully reduce the risk of such terrorist attacks' while the military goes after ISIS' 'beating heart in places like Iraq and Syria.'
'But what we don't do and we should not do is take approaches that are going to be counter productive,' he said.
As he has said in the past in response to Cruz, who's he would 'carpet bomb' ISIS, Obama said, 'not only is that inhumane, not only is that contrary to our values, that would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more people that are willing to die and explode bombs in an airport or in a metro station.'
'That's not a smart strategy,' Obama said.
Obama
said part of the reason there are attacks on the United States is that
it has a 'patriotic, integrated Muslim-American community.
'They
do not feel ghettoized. They do not feel isolated,' he said. 'Any
approach that would single them out or target them for discrimination is
not only wrong and un-American, but it would also be counter-productive
because it would reduce...the antibodies that we have to reduce
terrorism.'
Obama is due to return to Washington
Friday morning and has made no indications that he'll come back sooner
in spite of Tuesday's terror attack in Brussels. He's seen here at a
town hall in Buenos Aires
Obama greets Argentinean entrepreneurs
during his town hall meeting at the Usina del Arte. The center's
director said 1,000 young people attended
Attacks
like the one in Belgium make 'our hearts bleed' because they strike so
close to home, he said. The president said it 'horrifies' him to see the
bloodshed and think of his own daughters, Sasha and Malia, and the
possibility that they could be murdered.
'So
I understand why this is the top priority of the American people, and I
want them to understand, this is my top priority, as well,' Obama said.
'But we are approaching this in a way that has a chance of working. And
it will work.'
His
second term nearly up, Obama will leave office in 10 months in January
of 2017. Three Republicans and two Democrats are still in the race to
succeed him. Cruz is one of them.
Obama said today that he won't change his approach to combating ISIS 'simply because it's political season.'
'We're gonna be steady. We're going to be resolute. And ultimately, we're gonna be successful,' he said.
Obama
addressed the Belgium bombings yesterday morning in a statement atop a
televised speech in Cuba that has been criticized for its brevity.
He
independently responded to the terrorist attack again today directly as
he remarked on his meeting with Macri before reporters began hammering
him with questions about it.
Speaking
on behalf of their countries Obama said the U.S. and Argentina
sympathize with the Belgian people because they, too, have known the
'scourge of terrorism.'
We
'express our extraordinary sorrow for the losses that they've
experienced,' Obama said. 'We've seen our own citizens impacted by this
[kind' of senseless, viscous violence.'
Obama
reiterated the United States' willingness to help with the
investigation of the bombings and said, 'We will also continue to go
after ISIL aggressively until it is removed from Syria and from Iraq,
and it is finally destroyed.'
'The
world has to be united against terrorism,' Obama said, 'and we can and
we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security not only of
our own people, but of people all around the world.'
Today
the Argentinian head of state, Macri and Obama sported broad smiles as
they huddled with their advisers at the presidential palace.
Flanked
by flags from the other's nation, the men settled into cream chairs,
with their legs crossed and hands clasped, as they allowed photographers
to shoot a few photos before they got down to business.
With them were U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Noah Mamet.
The
Argentinian government rolled out the red carpet for Obama this
morning, greeting him with trumpets as he entered Casa Rosada for his
meeting.
The
trip to the Latin American country was Obama's first time in Argentina
and he teased at afternoon press conference that he dreamed as a college
student of tasting for himself the Argentinean beverage 'mate' that he
read about in literature books.
'And
it was good, so I might take some home with me,' Obama said. That may
or may not violate export-import laws between the countries, he
reflected, suggesting he truly did not know. But 'on Air Force One, I
can usually do what I want.'
At
the summit for entrepreneurs later Obama again brought up the
caffeinated beverage and said, in jest, 'My team, my staff thought I was
very clear headed at the press conference, and thought it must be the
mate.'
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