Donald Trump says EU was 'formed to screw the United States'

Donald Trump, centre, with secretary of state Marco Rubio, left, and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, right.
Photo: AP

Donald Trump has said he will impose 25% tariffs on the EU "very soon" and claimed the bloc was "formed in order to screw the United States", Sky News reports.

The US president made the remarks while holding his first cabinet meeting at the White House since his inauguration in January.

The world's richest man Elon Musk, who leads the US Department of Government Efficiency but is not a cabinet member, was among those present.

During his second term as president, Mr Trump has sparked fears of a global trade war by either imposing, or threatening to impose, high tariffs on both America's allies and geopolitical rivals.

Earlier this month the US government imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.

Beijing retaliated by imposing 10% duties on many US imports and 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas.

Meanwhile, the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada were paused after agreements were reached on border security.

Asked whether he had made a decision about imposing tariffs on the European Union, Mr Trump said: "We have made a decision, we'll be announcing it very soon and it will be 25% generally speaking and that will be on cars and all other things.

"The European Union is a different case than Canada, a different kind of case, they've really taken advantage of us in a different way.

"They don't accept our cars, they don't accept essentially our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not, and we accept everything from them, and we have about a $300bn (£237bn) deficit with the European Union."

He added: "The European Union, it was formed in order to screw the United States.

"Let's be honest – the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States, that's the purpose of it, and they've done a good job of it, but now I'm president."

Asked what he will do if the EU retaliates, Mr Trump said: "They can't, I mean, they can try, but they can't."

He added: "They can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation, because we just go cold turkey, we don't buy anymore.

The threat of tariffs comes at a time of fragile relations between the US and Europe as the Trump administration appears to favour Moscow over Kyiv as it tries to bring about peace in Ukraine.

Asked at the cabinet meeting about security guarantees the US might be willing to offer Ukraine as part of peace negotiations, Mr Trump said: "I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much.

"We're going to have Europe do that, because we're talking about Europe as the next-door neighbour."

The US president views the transaction with Ukraine as a fair way to recoup the billions of dollars that America has given Kyiv – via weapons and financial support – to help in their fight against Russia.

Asked whether Ukraine could gain NATO membership, the US president said: "You can forget about it. That's probably the reason the whole thing started."

Mr Trump declined to comment when asked about whether he would ever allow China to take control of Taiwan by force.

"I never comment on that," said. "I don't want to ever put myself in that position."

Mr Trump’s entire cabinet attended, including Elon Musk and RFK Jr.
Photo: AP