He made the comments in his first cabinet meeting
Donald Trump has claimed that the EU was “formed to screw the US” after he threatened to hit the European bloc with 25% tariffs.
The threat of increased tariffs on Europe is just the latest in continuing tensions rising between the EU, UK and US disagreeing on how best to handle the war in Ukraine.
Trump has also been throwing his weight around since his administration came to power, using tariffs as bartering tools to get what he wants.
He has already threatened neighbours Mexico and Canada with 25% tariffs, leading to both nations striking a deal to delay their implementation.
Now, during his first cabinet meeting of his second term yesterday, Trump has taken aim at Europe.
The president said that the EU was “formed to screw the US” and that the details of the tariffs for Europe would soon be released.
He said: “We have made a decision and we’ll be announcing it very soon. It’ll be 25%.”
The EU has already responded to Trump’s threats saying they vow to respond “firmly and immediately” describing the trade barrier as “unjustified”.
A European Commission spokesperson said: “The EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, including when tariffs are used to challenge legal and non-discriminatory policies. The EU will always protect European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified tariffs.”
The 27-country-strong union is the United States’ third largest trading partner alongside China.
The 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are set to be implemented from next week.
Earlier this week, Trump met with French president, Emmanuel Macron and discussed trade agreements.
Macron told Fox News: “Come on, you cannot have a trade war with China and Europe at the same time. I hope I convinced him.”
Meanwhile the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has said the EU should do all it can to avoid “totally unnecessary and stupid tariff wars”.
On Wednesday, the US president took to his own social media platform, Truth Social to argue against critics of his tariff scheme, saying they were “soooo wrong”.
He wrote: “The tariffs will drive massive amounts of auto manufacturing to MICHIGAN, a State which I just easily one [sic] in the Presidential Election.”
This is the moment Emmanuel Macron grabbed Donald Trump‘s arm and fact-checked him to his face.
The French President visited Washington for talks with Trump at the White House, where they discussed the war in Ukraine.
When Macron was asked if the US should be compensated for the money it has sent to Ukraine, the French leader said it was important Ukraine was be fully compensated for the war first.
Trump then piped up to say Europe is “loaning the money to Ukraine” and would be “getting their money back,” which the US president doesn’t believe America will.
But, in a glorious moment, Macron quickly grabbed Trump’s arm and fact-checked him, saying: “No, in fact. To be frank, we paid. We paid 60 per cent of the total effort.”
He said European nations provided “real money” just like the US had, through a combination of “loans, guarantees and grants.”
Macron went on to explain to Trump that the frozen Russian assets in Europe could potentially be used to compensate Europe if Russia agree to such terms during peace negotiations.
A peeved Trump then told journalists in attendance: “If you believe that, it’s okay with me.
“But they get their money back, we don’t, and now we do.”
Macron couldn’t help but interject “in fact we both do.”
During his visit to the White House, Macron said a truce between Ukraine and Russia could be agreed in the coming weeks, but he said any peace deal must “not be a surrender of Ukraine” and must be back by security guarantees.
But Trump said he wanted a ceasefire as soon as possible, and has called for the cost and burden of securing peace to be paid for by European nations, not just the US.
