US President, Donald Trump has doubled down on his administration’s recent criticism of Europe.
In a interview, Trump described Europe as “weak” and “decaying” and claimed that it was “destroying itself” through immigration.
Trump repeatedly described what he said were Europe’s problems in entirely racial terms, calling some unnamed European leaders “real stupid.”
“If it keeps going the way it’s going, Europe will not be … in my opinion … many of those countries will not be viable countries any longer. Their immigration policy is a disaster. What they’re doing with immigration is a disaster. We had a disaster coming, but I was able to stop it.”
Donald Trump
Commenting on changes he said were occurring in big European cities such as London and Paris, Trump made clear that the problem as he viewed it was that they were becoming less white.
He again singled out London’s first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, for criticism.
“And Europe is … if you take a look at Paris, it’s a much different place. I loved Paris. It’s a much different place than it was. If you take a look at London, you have a mayor named Khan.”
Donald Trump
He called Khan a “horrible Mayor.” “He’s an incompetent Mayor, but he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting Mayor,” Trump added.
“I think he’s done a terrible job. London’s a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see it happen. You know, my roots are in Europe, as you know.
“[In] Europe, they’re coming in from all parts of the world. Not just the Middle East, they’re coming in from the Congo, tremendous numbers of people coming from the Congo. And even worse, they’re coming from prisons of the Congo and many other countries.”
Donald Trump
Asked if the trajectory of European countries meant they would no longer be US allies, Trump replied, “Or they’ll be … well, it depends.”
“You know, it depends. They’ll change their ideology, obviously, because the people coming in have a totally different ideology. But it’s gonna make them much weaker. They’ll be a much … they’ll be much weaker, and they’ll be much different.”
Donald Trump
Also, the US President denied that he had a specific vision for Europe, saying, “All I want to see is a strong Europe.”
“Look, I have a vision for the United States of America first. It’s Make America Great Again.
“I’m supposed to be a very smart person, I can … I have eyes. I have ears. I have knowledge. I have vast knowledge. I see what’s happening. I get reports that you will never see. And I think it’s horrible what’s happening to Europe.”
Donald Trump
Moreover, Trump hinted that he could walk away from supporting Ukraine. Trump called for Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to accept his proposal to cede territory to Russia, arguing that Moscow retained the “upper hand” and that Zelenskyy’s government must “play ball.”
The interview followed the release last week of a new US national security strategy that claimed Europe faced “civilisational erasure” because of mass migration and offered tacit support for far-right parties.
Trump’s Intervention On Europe Met With Dismay
The recent interventions by Trump and his administration on Europe have been greeted with mounting dismay among European leaders, after similarly disparaging remarks by the US Vice President, JD Vance, at the Munich Security Conference in February.
German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, rejected the notion that European democracy needed saving and described some elements of the new national security strategy as unacceptable.
Merz said today that the policy document underscored the need for a European security policy more independent of Washington.
“Some of it is unacceptable for us from the European point of view. That the Americans want to save democracy in Europe now, I don’t see any need for that … If it needed to be saved, we would manage that alone.”
Friedrich Merz
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