As i told the Prime Minister, we welcome singapores interest in purchasing aircraft and we will also explore the possibility of singapore troops training on qualm. We will continue to strengthen regional opportunities in line with what we agreed to earlier this year. We are reaffirmed our shared commitment to bringing a regional order where all nations play by the same rules and disputes are resolved peacefully, including the south china sea. We encourage Economic Growth and innovation among our economies. With a little over a decade, trade between our two countries has grown more than 50 . We are collaborating to jumpstart greater digital innovation, research and development into technology, and data to improve and promote smart cities concept that can improve the daily lives of our citizens. We will do more to connect our vibrant startup communities so that an engineer in singapore collaborates more easily with Silicon Valley or austin, texas. Trade is an issue that stirs great passion. Global trade means that economies around the world are more in a greater than ever and jobs and capital cross borders. Automation means it can be produced with fewer workers and these innovations in technology have not always benefited veryone equally. There are fears and anxieties that people may be left behind. These anxieties are legitimate. They cannot be ignored. They have to be taken seriously. As ive said before, if it means we have to do everything we can to make sure that everybody shares the prosperity, then we have strong rules to protect workers, to promote highway just, and to make sure our citizens are getting the education and the training that they need. But the answer cannot be to back away from trade and the global economy. It is here to stay. It is not possible to cut ourselves off given how integrated our economies are. To try to pull up the drawbridge on trade would only hurt us and our workers. The answers to make sure that globalization and trade is working for us and not against us. That is why today we are reaffirming our commitment to the transpacific partnership. Im a strong supporter of tpp because it will reduce terrorists tariffs and make it easier for americans to export into the fastest markets f the world. Tpp levels the Playing Field for our workers and help insured countries abide by environmental rules. This is an opportunity to grow our economies and write the rules for trade in the 21st century. It gives us a chance to advance American Leadership and reduce economic inequality and produce great paying jobs in a vital region. Think not only is tpp important, but the Prime Minister and i agreed that we need to extend our partnership beyond just regional efforts. We have work to do on a global scale. Singapore was the first country in Southeast Asia to join at the Global Coalition to destroy isil, and we are grateful that singapore is making new contributions to this effort by providing medical support to coalition forces. As two nations on the forefront of digital innovation, we recognize the growing threats from Cyber Attacks and we are going to continue to work to strengthen Cyber Security and to promote peaceful norms of how nations should operate in yberspace. Singapore, the garden city, helped to achieve the paris climate agreement last year. We thank you for your commitment to work towards joining the Paris Agreement this year. We are working with the International Community to reduce harmful aviation emissions. Our two countries will Work Together to advance Global Health security so that the world is better prepared to address the threat. The last point we agreed to keep promoting people to people ties between our two countries. We are expanding our trusted Travelers Program to make it easier for americans and singaporeans to visit and do usiness with each other. I welcome the new Student Exchange program which welcome scholarships of the two countries. And to our young southeast leaders initiative, we will keep empowering people to become leaders of tomorrow in their own communities, business, and in civil society. I will note that i had a chance to meet one of those young singapore leaders at a summit in kuala lumpur last year. It is a remarkable young woman who is helping underprivileged women become financially selfsufficient. She talked about coming together with young people from across Southeast Asia. She said we bonded in our common endeavor to seek and understand and learn from one another in pursuit of aspirations to a better world. Young people like kerry give me hope and make me confident that singapore and the United States will continue to advance our shared aspirations for a better world for many years to come. With that, i will turn it over to you, mr. Prime minister. Prime minister lee thank you, president obama. I very happy to be here on the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic license. I would like to thank president obama for his hospitality as well as to the wider asiapacific and for his good wishes on the condition of our former president. The president and i had conversation on a wide range of issues to improve our firm and multifaceted longstanding partnership. Strong economic ties are underpinned by the u. S. And Singapore Free trade agreement. Singapore is the u. S. s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, where as the u. S. Is singapores largest foreign investor. There are Many Singapore Companies also in america and the relationship is vital. In the defense area, we have robust cooperations from 1990 and the strategic Framework Agreement that concluded in 2005. Last year, we concluded the and hands affects Corporation Cooperation agreement into two areas like Disaster Relief and counterterrorism. We are also deepening Security Cooperation between our agencies and areas of counterterrorism come a cyber crime, corruption, transportation security, and trade enforcement. We are expanding into new areas ike Cyber Security while agencies are signing and mo you to Work Together to protect National Security and our economic interest against Cyber Attacks. We also share an interest in smart cities. We discussed how cities can use technology to tackle problems from health care to transportation to delivery of public services. There is a lot of interest from companies on both sides. Underpinning the ties between the two countries are the friendships and relationships between our peoples. Thousands of American Students are studying and working in singapore. Thousands of singaporeans are studying and working in america. Last time they hosted a National Assembly hosting our embassy here in 600 people showed appeared it is fitting to mark this special occasion of our 50th anniversary that we are launching a scholarship for singaporeans and americans to do exchanges with each others countries and are all young people closer together and to get to know each other in society, culture, strength, an opportunity to cooperate ogether. We recently and limited a trusted Traveler Program will also specifically travel singaporeans to the u. S. The president and i discussed the tpp. Just as you heard the president give an eloquent expedition of why it is important to america and to asia. It is an integral component of americas rebalance to asia. Apart from the benefits to trade and market standing, it is vital from a Strategic Point of view and a strong signal of the u. S. Commitment to continue its deep ngagement in the region. We greatly appreciate the efforts of the president and his team to push for the tpp, which grew from a small think that singapore started together with chile, brunei, and new zealand. Now the tpp will be a Free Trade Agreement encompassing 40 of the World Population and one third of the worlds gdp. We are near the finish line and we hope that the countries, particularly the u. S. , will able to ratify the tpp as soon as possible. Finally, the president and i discussed our partnership in tackling global challenges like counterterrorism. It is a problem for all countries. Every day in the newspapers the read of new attacks somewhere america, europe, the middle east, closer to home in indonesia and asia. We in Southeast Asia are very concerned about this because the terrorists are active in many countries in the region. Several hundred, perhaps thousands from Southeast Asia and the middle east fighting isis. We have witnessed attacks in malaysia that were mounted by isis followers under orders from isis operatives in the middle east to launch attacks in their ome countries. The efforts to counter isis are crucial and that is why singapore is a member of the coalition and we are making a modest contribution to the effort. We are going to be sending a edical team to iraq. We have already been participating with image interpretation and in other ways and now we are going to send a medical team into iraq. It is also important to fundamental attack the root source of violent extremism to counter the underlying ideology of isis and issues of extremism and views being propagated. These are major issues which we have discussed amongst our two countries and we look forward to working together and taking a relationship even further. President obama the first question is margaret brendan. Thank you, mr. President. Given the republican nominees recent comments about the khan family and his statement that if he was president , he would consider organizing russias annexation of crimea, does it make you question his fitness to be president . Secondly, sir, on libya, yet set in the past that the worst mistake of your presidency may have been your failure to plan for the aftermath of that 2011 nato intervention of libya. Do you see your new decision to bomb isis there as a direct esult of that . President obama yes, i think the republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. I said so last week and he keeps on proving it. He notion that he would attack a gold star family that had made such extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of our country, the fact that he does not appear to have asic knowledge around Critical Issues in europe, in the middle east, in asia, means that he is woefully unprepared to do this job. And this is not just my opinion. I think what has been interesting is the repeated denunciations of his statements by leading republicans, including the speaker of the house and the Senate Majority leader and prominent republicans like john mccain. The question i think that they have to ask themselves is, if you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him . What does this say about your party that this is your tandardbearer . This is not a situation where you have an episodic gap. This is daily and weekly where they are distancing themselves from statements he is making. There has to be a point at which you say this is not somebody i can support for president of the United States. Even if he purports to be a ember of my party. The fact that that has not yet happened makes some of these denunciations ring hollow. I dont doubt their sincerity. Dont doubt that they are outraged about some of the statements that mr. Trump and is supporters made about the khan family, but there has to come a point at which you say, somebody can makes those kinds of statements doesnt have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding to occupy the most powerful position in the world, because a lot of people depend on the white house getting stuff right. And this is different than just having policy disagreements. I recognize that they all for family disagreement myself and Hillary Clinton on tax policy or certain elements of Foreign Policy, but there have been republican president s with whom i disagree with, but i do not have a doubt that they could function as president. I think i was right and mitt romney and john mccain were wrong on certain policy issues, but i never thought that they cannot do the job. Had they won, i would have been disappointed, but i wouldve said to all americans that this is our president and i know that they are going to abide by certain norms and rules and ommon sense. They will observe basic decency. They will have enough knowledge about Economic Policy and Foreign Policy and our constitutional traditions and rule of law. That our government will work and will compete for years from now to try to win an election. But that is not the situation ere. That is not just my opinion. That is the opinion of many prominent republicans. There has to come a point at which he say enough. You say enough. The alternative is that the entire party, the republican party, effectively endorses and validates the positions that are being articulated by mr. Trump. As i said in my speech last week, i do not think that actually represents the views of a whole lot of republicans out there. With respect to libya, i have said on several occasions that we did the right thing in preventing what couldve been a massacre, a bloodbath in libya. We did so as part of an International Coalition and nder u. N. Law. I think that all of us collectively were not sufficiently attentive to what had happened happen the day after and the day after and the day after that in order to ensure that there were strong tructures in place to assure a of liby basic security and peace inside of libya. The good news is that we have the beginnings of a government and a Government National court. They are serious about trying to bring all the factions together to start creating a basic ecurity structure, to begin to monitor libyas borders, and to cooperate internationally to deal with issues like isil and penetration on their territory. At the request of that government, after they had already made significant progress against isil and had essentially pushed isil into a very confined area in and around cert, it is an americas National Security interest in our fight against isil that they re able to finish the job. E are working in partnership with them to usher that assure that isil does not get a stronghold in libya as libya begins what will be a long process to establish a functioning government and Security System there. The good news is that they recognize this terrorist organization in their midst is contrary to their National Interest as well as the worlds. We are hopeful that having ompleted this process of driving isil out that they will be in a position to start bringing parties together inside that country, and not only us but the europeans and other ountries around the world have a great interest in seeing stability in libya because the absence of stability has helped to fuel some of the challenges we have seen in terms of the migration crisis in europe and some of the humanitarian tragedies we have seen in the open seas between libya and urope. All right, nicholas. Thank you. The first question is for Prime Minister lee. He has spoken about the continuation of the u. S. Rebalancing and a significant part of peace and stability in asia. How do you vision this continuation perceived in proceeding in the next 50 years . And what role do you see singapore playing in this process . What are the hot button issues as the u. S. Hopefully continues its rebalance . Second question you mentioned the strong bipartisan links that singapore has had with nine different president s from both sides of the focal divide political divide. How would you address a u. S. Leader who has proposed more empty globalization . Present obama has a question president obama has a question about the cornerstone of the relationship of the u. S. And singapore in response to the medical team from singapore to to iraq. The potential for military confrontation in the south china sea, how do you see singapore featuring in the u. S. Plans to ddress this Going Forward . Last question, four more years is a phrase that i think you are hearing a little bit in the past few weeks and months. While that is not possible, if it were how would you continue developing relationships with singapore . Full of beer key focus Going Forward in the next few years what would be your full key focus Going Forward in the next two years . Prime minister lee no one can imagine what singapore would be like today or the world will be like today. We have to see a broad relationship and some the things to do together. We will like to bud on this for the next 50 years. It depends on how each of our countries does and singapore were we are able to remain stable and prosperous and open and successful. In america, what the remain wanted dynamic, vibrant leading economies in the world, and a world in which there are other centers and creativity and technology and science and rogress. And yet, a unique participant with a history of contributing to the world not just for your wn interest, but because you bel