WASHINGTON — For President Barack Obama, it was a brief glimpse of his good old days in Europe.

On the continent that cheered his ascent to the White House, Obama was enthusiastically welcomed in Estonia by Baltic leaders who see American military power as the best safeguard of their own security. And at the NATO summit in Wales, Obama gathered numerous statements of support for his call to confront Islamic State militants in the Middle East.

“I did not get any resistance or pushback,” Obama declared as he closed a three-day trip.

But Air Force One sped Obama back to a far different landscape in Washington, where he returned late Friday. He has faced harsh criticism not only from Republicans, but also some Democrats, for being overly cautious in his response to the Islamic State militant threat and Russia’s provocations in Ukraine. A few days in the warm embrace of European allies was unlikely to dramatically shift that dynamic.

The criticism of Obama’s foreign policy has thrust the White House into a defensive posture and sent the president’s approval ratings on international matters tumbling. In Europe, too, Obama has grappled with allies who have both quibbled with his perceived lack of focus on the continent and resisted his calls for more aggressive action against Russia and in the Middle East.