Trump calls Europe 'decaying' and 'weak' in sharp new attack on US allies
US president escalates criticism of European leaders, saying migration policies have "destroyed" key nations and weakened support for Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump has blasted Europe as "decaying" and "weak" on immigration, deepening tensions between Washington and some of its closest allies.
Speaking to Politico in an interview published on Tuesday, Trump repeated extraordinary criticism of top US partners, echoing far-right rhetoric that appeared in his administration’s new national security strategy last week.
That document warned of European "civilizational erasure" and called for "cultivating resistance" to migration policies across the continent.
"Most European nations they’re decaying," Trump said in the interview conducted on Monday.
He described Europe’s approach to migrants as a "disaster," adding: "They want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak. That’s what makes them weak."
He went on to claim there were "some real stupid ones" among Europe’s leaders.
Trump also criticised European countries over Ukraine, amid growing differences with Washington about the US plan to end the war.
Trump faults Europe’s migration policy
"NATO calls me daddy," Trump said, referring to remarks by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at a June summit where leaders backed Trump’s demand for higher defence spending.
"But they talk, but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on."
European governments have been attempting to strengthen relations with Trump since his return to office in January, especially around maintaining US support for Ukraine.
But his comments and the national security strategy have triggered renewed alarm in European capitals.
France’s Minister for Europe, Alice Rufo, said on Tuesday that the US strategy marked an "extremely brutal clarification of the ideological stance of the United States."
In the Politico interview, Trump claimed countries including Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden were being "destroyed" by migration.
He also launched another attack on Sadiq Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, calling him "horrible, vicious, disgusting."
Khan told Politico that Trump was "obsessed" with him and that Americans were "flocking" to live in London.
Trump’s comments come as senior US negotiators intensify discussions with both Russia and Ukraine on Washington’s revised draft plan for ending the war, though no breakthrough has been reported.