Trump: EU was formed to 'screw' the United States

[Social Media]

 

U.S. President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday that the European Union was established with the intention of taking advantage of the United States, reinforcing his stance on trade imbalances as he once again threatened to impose a 25% tariff on EU goods. His remarks sparked immediate backlash from European officials, who insisted that the economic relationship between the two had been beneficial for both parties.

 

"Look, let's be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States," Trump declared while addressing reporters at his first cabinet meeting of the year. "That's the purpose of it, and they've done a good job of it. But now I'm president."

 

Trump reiterated his long-standing grievance that the European Union has "really taken advantage of us," a claim he has also directed at China, the media, Democrats, and even U.S. allies like Canada. His comments underscored his ongoing push for what he perceives as fairer trade policies that put "America First."

 

The European Union was quick to respond, with a European Commission official rejecting Trump's assertion and emphasizing the bloc’s positive impact on U.S. economic interests. "The European Union is the world's largest free market. And it has been a boon for the United States," the official stated, adding that the EU would respond "firmly and immediately" if the proposed tariffs were implemented. "We should work together to preserve these opportunities for our people and businesses. Not against each other."

 

Tensions between Trump and the EU have escalated in recent weeks, as European leaders, including Germany's likely next chancellor, have voiced their support for increasing military independence from Washington. For decades, the United States has been a proponent of European integration, viewing the EU’s formation in 1993 as a key milestone in fostering stability after the devastation of two world wars. However, Trump’s approach has diverged significantly, as he welcomed the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU and has pursued a more isolationist policy that prioritizes U.S. interests over traditional alliances.

 

The trade deficit between the United States and the 27-member EU stood at $235.6 billion last year, according to official U.S. data. When asked about the specifics of the impending tariffs, Trump confirmed that an announcement would be made soon. "We'll be announcing it very soon and it'll be 25 percent, generally speaking," he stated, singling out automobiles as one of the key sectors that would be affected. The news is particularly concerning for Germany, whose economy heavily relies on exports and has already been experiencing a downturn.

 

Trump has previously imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, citing various reasons such as illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. His hardline stance on immigration remains a focal point of his presidency, despite his own ancestral roots in Europe. Acknowledging this connection, he remarked, "I guess I'm from there at some point a long time ago, right?"

 

Beyond trade, Trump’s relationship with European leaders has been fraught with disagreements over key geopolitical issues, most notably Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who was scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, had her meeting unexpectedly canceled due to "scheduling issues," according to an EU spokesman. Meanwhile, Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday and was set to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.

 

A major point of contention has been the ongoing war in Ukraine. On Monday, the United States aligned with Russia against most of its European allies at the United Nations, backing a resolution calling for an immediate end to the conflict without guaranteeing Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Trump asserted that Europe, rather than the U.S., should be responsible for ensuring Ukraine's security. "We're going to have Europe do that," he said. "Europe is their next-door neighbor, but we're going to make sure everything goes well."

 

Friedrich Merz, the winner of Germany’s recent election and a known advocate for transatlantic cooperation, has acknowledged the reality of Trump's policies, urging Europe to achieve greater independence in defense matters. "We must not have any illusions about Trump," Merz cautioned, emphasizing the need for Europe to fortify its own security measures.

 

Senator Marco Rubio echoed similar sentiments in an interview with Fox News, reassuring that NATO remains intact but stressing that Europe must invest more in its defense capabilities. "We're not saying do your own thing. We're saying do more. It's their continent, right?" he remarked.

 

Based on a report by France 24  2025-02-28

 

 

[blaze master]

Cue crusty old liberal privileged male telling us all how Trump is this and that. While they sit on their nest egg generally not being effected by this. 

 

Most of the loudest posters on this forum are quite well off and sitting pretty into retirement. Well earned but totally obvlious.

[DonniePeverley]

One month in - He's exhausting. Can he keep this crap up ?

 

Take a holiday man 

[thesetat]

The man only has 4 years. 3 really to set things on a track the actually benefits the US citizens. He is not eligible to be president again. He needs to take action now as quickly as he can during his stint as president. It took many years for the DEMS to achieve this level screwing over American interests in the US. Just to appease and make other countries want to support the DEMS when they wanted or needed it. IF trade agreements were unfairly made that hurt the US, then they need to be changed to a better position that benefits the US again. 

As it stands, The US has only lost in trade around the world. Just as in Thailand where they make and send so many things to the US without tax or tariff, but everything that US sends to Thailand is double taxed with additional fees demanded by customs making the products scarce and expensive. 

[Gsxrnz]

Donald J. Trump is the Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee of the global political swamp. Calls it as he sees it, and doesn't give a monkey's.

 

And he's got a knife. 

[Cryingdick]

They formed the Eu to try to compete with the USA. It has been a spectacular failure. 

[josephbloggs]

32 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

They formed the Eu to try to compete with the USA. It has been a spectacular failure. 

The EU is the world's largest economy. Spectacular failure?

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Gsxrnz said:

Donald J. Trump is the Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee of the global political swamp. Calls it as he sees it, and doesn't give a monkey's.

 

And he's got a knife. 

Indeed he has and one day he may fall on it.

[hotsun]

He could put 100% tariffs on Europe and it wouldnt be enough in my opinion. Send them back to the stone age

[Chomper Higgot]

Yet more ill-informed garbage from Trump.

 

https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/06/17/the-eu-made-in-america

[soalbundy]

Just now, josephbloggs said:

The EU is the world's largest economy. Spectacular failure?

Take note UK, the Donald is running scared of the EU's influence and competition and wants to destroy it, he's pleased that you left to become his lackey again but lackeys have to know their place, Trump wont be patting your head you'll be getting kicks.....you're on your own now, impoverished, divided and without influence.

[daveAustin]

Gawd, what a thread. All the dolts are out. 

[soalbundy]

1 minute ago, hotsun said:

He could put 100% tariffs on Europe and it wouldnt be enough in my opinion. Send them back to the stone age

Sounds like you don't believe in America's strong economy and don't think 'the land of the free' can withstand competition.

[JAG]

4 hours ago, Social Media said:

"Look, let's be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States," Trump declared while addressing reporters at his first cabinet meeting of the year. "That's the purpose of it, and they've done a good job of it. But now I'm president."

And screwing the United States is most definitely his job, now he is President"😄

[JAG]

15 minutes ago, hotsun said:

He could put 100% tariffs on Europe and it wouldnt be enough in my opinion. Send them back to the stone age

We think highly of you as well!

[MalcolmB]

Best to cut these Americans off completely. The population voted for the buffoon so they deserve him. They are always getting us in wars over false pretenses.

it will fun watching Trump and American fail like they did in his first term.

[JAG]

It is remarkable: how Mr Trump veers spectacularly between wild nationalism (renaming international waters), territorial ambitions (Greenland and Canada) personal  victimhood (his various legal entanglements leading to convictions,  civil and criminal), and now national victimhood (The EU existing to harm the USA)!

[nauseus]

9 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Best to cut these Americans off completely. The population voted for the buffoon so they deserve him. They are always getting us in wars over false pretenses.

it will fun watching Trump and American fail like they did in his first term.

 

Explain.

[Cryingdick]

30 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

The EU is the world's largest economy. Spectacular failure?

Really? The EU hasn't produced a single trillion dollar company and it took more than 50 years to produce a handful of companies with a market cap of 100 billion. The mag 7 are worth more than all European markets combined. 

 

Put the crack pipe down it isnt even close. 

[daveAustin]

3 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Take note UK, the Donald is running scared of the EU's influence and competition and wants to destroy it, he's pleased that you left to become his lackey again but lackeys have to know their place, Trump wont be patting your head you'll be getting kicks.....you're on your own now, impoverished, divided and without influence.

Ooh, very bogun esque, from that irrelevant convict desert likely 😂

trying to get a dig in when the thread is about the EU. All you other numpty nations, convict ones usually, can only offer up mockery when you look at yourselves then realise what that little place has achieved.

Alone?: Britain has always been alone.

Influence?: it was inevitable the rest of the world would eventually catch up.

Impoverished? 😂

It may be in a pickle due to rubbishy EU and own leftist policies leading to unchecked immigration etc — and the feminisation of the house — but where isn’t?

[rough diamond]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

Indeed he has and one day he may fall on it.

Hope springs eternal.

[rough diamond]

43 minutes ago, JAG said:

We think highly of you as well!

I do hope you are being sarcastic.

[JonnyF]

5 hours ago, Social Media said:

"Look, let's be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States," Trump declared while addressing reporters at his first cabinet meeting of the year.

 

The EU was formed to screw a lot of people. Primarily the citizens of Europe. But they will screw as many people/countries as they can get away with. 

 

Take it to 'em Donald. 

[rough diamond]

51 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Gawd, what a thread. All the dolts are out. 

What does that make you then since you are here?

[JAG]

5 minutes ago, rough diamond said:

I do hope you are being sarcastic.

Oh yes!

[Stiddle Mump]

Used to think Americans were a bit naive. But they were certainly on the money when they elected The Don. He could turn out to be the US's savior.

 

Peace! Peace! And even more peace. Deals not war!

[rough diamond]

5 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

He could turn out to be the US's savior.

Or a disastrous dictator in waiting.

[spidermike007]

If anybody thought that Trump was was sane, I think on a daily basis he's proving this to be untrue. The man is completely unhinged, every day is a new adventure for him. Every day he continues his sabotage of the world order and diminishes the influence of America. His ignorance knows no bounds. He has no understanding of world ecosystems when it comes to globalization and he is not smart enough to be able to understand how these systems work, therefore his propaganda is always of a very simplistic nature, and reminds me of Marxism quite a bit. 

 

It’s a total mess. As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.”

 

So, either Trump wants to blow that hole, or he’s bluffing, or he is clueless. If it is the latter, Trump is going to get a crash course in the hard realities of the global economy as it really is — not how he imagines it.

 

Ecosystems? Listen a bit to Beinhocker, who is also the executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. In the real world, he argues, “There is no such thing as the American economy anymore that you can identify in any real, tangible way. There’s just this accounting fiction that we call U.S. G.D.P.” To be sure, he says, “There are American interests in the economy. There are American workers. There are American consumers. There are firms based in America. But there is no American economy in that isolated sense.”

 

The old days, he added, “where you made wine and I made cheese, and you had everything you needed to make wine and I had everything I needed to make cheese and so we traded with each other — which made us both better off, as Adam Smith taught — those days are long gone.” Except in Trump’s head.

 

Instead, there is a global web of commercial, manufacturing, services and trading “ecosystems,” explains Beinhocker. “There is an automobile ecosystem. There’s an A.I. ecosystem. There’s a smartphone ecosystem. There’s a drug development ecosystem. There is the chip-making ecosystem.” And the people, parts and knowledge that make up those ecosystems all move back and forth across many economies.

 

As NPR noted in a recent story about the auto industry, “carmakers have built a vast, complicated supply chain that spans North America, with parts crossing back and forth across borders throughout the auto manufacturing process. … Some parts cross borders multiple times — like, say, a wire that is manufactured in the U.S., sent to Mexico to be bundled into a group of wires, and then back to the U.S. for installation into a bigger piece of a car, like a seat.”

 

Trump just waves off all of this. He told reporters that the U.S. is not reliant on Canada. “We don’t need them to make our cars,” he said.

 

Actually, we do. And thank goodness for that. It not only enables us to make cars cheaper, but also better. All that a Model T did was get you from point to point faster than a horse, but today’s cars offer you heating and cooling and entertainment from the internet and satellites. They will navigate for you and even drive for you — and they’re much safer. When we can combine more complex knowledge and complex parts to solve complex problems, our quality of life soars.

 

But here’s the catch. You cannot make complex stuff alone anymore. It’s too complex. And if you are not part of these ecosystems, your country will not thrive.”

 

And trust is the essential ingredient that makes these ecosystems work and grow, Beinhocker adds. Trust acts as both glue and grease. It glues together bonds of cooperation, while at the same time it greases the flows of people, products, capital and ideas from one country to the next. Remove trust and the ecosystems start to collapse.

 

Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.

[Stiddle Mump]

1 minute ago, rough diamond said:

Or a disastrous dictator in waiting.

Keep the faith RD. The Americans suddenly realised that there is a guy that can save them.

 

The Don will put the US back at the top of the tree. No more playing second fiddle.

[JAG]

20 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Used to think Americans were a bit naive. But they were certainly on the money when they elected The Don. He could turn out to be the US's savior.

 

Peace! Peace! And even more peace. Deals not war!

Absolutely, after all, what's a little ethnic cleansing, bombarding civilians and aggressive invasion when it means the invaded, bombarded and ethically cleansed country signs over it's minerals for The Don's pals to get rich on!

 

Still, I suppose it will take the pressure off Canada and Greenland for a couple of years - all hail Putin and Trump, the wise Elder Statesmen of Peace!

 

Don't pause to glance at this link, (https://images.app.goo.gl/WDUp5sdwf3W4AtF98), mere collateral damage in Putin's justifiable actions supported by Trump!