President Trump says European Union is a ‘foe’ of the United States

President Trump has said he considers the European Union a “foe” of the United States.

He made the comment after CBS News’ Jeff Glor asked him in an interview: “Who is your biggest competitor? Your biggest foe globally right now?”

“Well I think we have a lot of foes,” Trump responded. “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 a foe in certain respects,” he added. “China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they are competitive. They want to do well and we want to do well.”

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During his presidency, Trump has repeatedly attacked the EU over its trade policies.

“We’re in negotiations with the EU, and we’re going to be meeting with them next week,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve been treated very unfairly on trade. Our farmers have been shut out of the European Union. Now, you could say they’re different, but basically, to a large extent, they’re the same countries.”

He has also slammed European allies over their financial contribution to the NATO alliance.

“I think NATO is a very important — probably the greatest ever done. But the United States was paying for anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of it, depending on the way you calculate,” Trump stated during the NATO summit. “That’s not fair to the United States.”

In response to Trump’s “foe” remark, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: “America and the EU are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news.”