Trump says the European Union is a “foe” of the United States

Anca Alexe 16/07/2018 | 08:25

US President Donald Trump named the European Union, Russia as China as the main foes of the United States during an interview with CBS News in Scotland.

Just two days before his high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin, Trump was asked by CBS News anchor Jeff Glor to identify his biggest foe globally.

“Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe. Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn’t mean they’re bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means they are competitive,” Trump responded.

At the summit of NATO allies in Brussels last week, Mr. Trump took a hard line toward member nations for failing to meet targeted defense spending goals. He also criticized Germany for being “totally controlled” and “captive by Russia” due to a natural gas pipeline project known as Nord Stream 2.

Mr. Trump heads to Helsinki on Sunday ahead of his meeting with Putin on Monday. He told Glor he has “low expectations” for the summit. “Nothing bad is going to come out of it, and maybe some good will come out,” he said.