Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Trump: Other countries will follow 'smart' UK out of EU

  • Trump: "I thought the UK was so smart in getting out" (Photo: Gage Skidmore)

The European Union is “a vehicle for Germany” which the United Kingdom was “smart” to leave, incoming US president Donald Trump said in his first newspaper interview published on Sunday (15 January).

“I thought the UK was so smart in getting out,” Trump said in a joint interview with The Times and Bild newspapers, adding he believed other member states would leave the EU, and that the 2015 migration crisis caused Brexit.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

“If they hadn't been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that it entails, I think you wouldn't have Brexit,” he said.

Angela Merkel's open door policy towards refugees was a “mistake”, said Trump, though he added that he planned to meet the German chancellor.

“I respect her and I like her. But I think it was a mistake. And people make mistakes.”

Trump has made blunt statements about his country's relations with Europe before, but his remarks will be even more closely watched now that he is due to take office on Friday (20 January).

Nato and Russia

Trump repeated that other members of the military alliance Nato should pay “their fair share”, but also called Nato “obsolete”. Many European Nato members are not spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defence.

In what may be a signal of his stance towards Russia, Trump hinted that sanctions against Russia over its aggressive foreign policy may be lifted in exchange for a reduction of its nuclear arsenal.

“They have sanctions on Russia - let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it,” he said.

Trump, who initially did not oppose president George W Bush's decision to invade Iraq, now called it “possibly the worst decision ever made in the history of our country”.

UK-US trade deal

On the future of the EU, Trump reminded his interviewers that he correctly predicted Brexit.

“If you ask me, more countries will leave,” he noted.

The US president-elect also indicated that the United Kingdom would not be at the “back of the queue” to negotiate a trade deal, like his predecessor Barack Obama had said.

“I’m a big fan of the UK. We’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides,” Trump said about a US-UK trade deal.

The interview is the first Trump has given to a written medium since being elected last November.

The Times reporter who got the scoop was Michael Gove, a former member of David Cameron's cabinet who was one of the main campaigners for Britain to leave the UK.

Gove was pictured smiling alongside Trump, the two of them giving a thumbs up.

Trump team asked which EU state is next to exit

The outgoing US ambassador to the EU, Anthony L Gardner, says Trump's transitional team had placed a call to officials at the EU institutions asking which member state would be next to leave the European Union.

Marine Le Pen spotted at Trump Tower

Marine Le Pen reportedly did not meet with anyone from the Donald Trump team following her unannounced appearance at the Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Opinion

A US dream, or nightmare, for Europeans?

Europeans often like the American people more than they like American foreign policy and US presidents. But the Trump presidency could win favour among Europe’s growing swell of populists.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us