Donald Trump gave an interview to two newspapers – the UK Times and the German tabloid Bild – in his office in the Trump Tower in New York. The interview covered a wide range of issues and was reported in the respective papers although there was a variation on what each concentrated on. Here’s the best from both.
On Brexit
The Times: Trump said he believed Brexit was “going to end up being a great thing” because people wanted to reclaim their identity from the European Union. Other countries would leave as well and it would be hard to keep the EU from falling apart under the pressure of immigration, he said. The refugee crisis which started in 2015 had been the “straw that broke the camel’s back” in terms of popular support for a unified Europe. “If they hadn’t been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that it . . . entails, I think that you wouldn’t have a Brexit. This was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. . . I believe others will leave. I do think keeping it together is not gonna be as easy as a lot of people think.”
The EU was basically a vehicle for Germany, he said, and “that’s why I thought the UK was so smart in getting out”.
On trade deal with UK
The Times: Playing up his British ancestry, Trump said his Scottish mother had been “so proud” of the Queen and said he was eager to get a trade deal done quickly.
“I’m a big fan of the UK, we’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides. We’ll have a meeting [with Theresa May] right after I get into the White House and . . . we’re gonna get something done very quickly.”
On Angela Merkel
Bild: Donald Trump has called Angela Merkel’s open door policy to refugees a “catastrophic mistake” which he said Germany would pay for.
Trump said whilst he had “great respect” for Merkel, who is standing for a fourth term as chancellor next autumn, calling her “magnificent” and a “fantastic chief”, she had made an “utterly catastrophic mistake by letting all these illegals into the country”. He told Bild: “Do you know, letting all these people in, wherever they come from. And no one knows where they come from at all. You will find out, you’ve had a clear impression of that,” he said, referring to the December attack in Berlin in which 12 people were killed when a lorry driven by an asylum seeker from Tunisia careered into a Christmas market.
“So I am of the opinion that she made a catastrophic mistake, a very serious mistake. But putting that aside, I respect her, I like her. But I don’t know her,” he said, when asked whether he would be willing to support her reelection, as his predecessor Barack Obama said he would. “So I can’t say anything as to who I might support, in the case that I would support anyone.”
It was also put to Trump in the interview that Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin know each other well, that the Russian president speaks fluent German and she speaks fluent Russian. Trump was asked which of the two he trusted more.
Trump replied: “First and foremost, I trust both of them. Let’s see how long this goes on for. Maybe it won’t last for long.”
On Nato
The Times: Trump repeated his criticism of Nato, one of the mainstays of American foreign policy for decades, calling it “obsolete” for failing to contain the terror threat in western countries. He also complained that some countries “don’t pay what they should pay.” However, he added that “Nato is very important to me”.
On manufacturing tariffs
Bild: In remarks that will likely disturb German car manufacturers, Trump said he would look to realign the “out of balance” car trade between Germany and the US.
“If you go down Fifth Avenue every one has a Mercedes Benz in front of his house, isn’t that the case?” he said. “The fact is that ... there is no reciprocity. How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not very many, maybe none at all ... it’s a one-way street. It must work both ways.” As a result, US manufacturers were losing $800bn a year in trade. “That will stop,” he said. Under Wilbur Ross, the incoming trade minister, he said, change could be expected.
Trump proposed a 35% tax on every foreign car sold in America which was produced elsewhere – seen as a particular dig at BMW which plans to build a new plant in Mexico from which it would export to the US market. He urged manufacturers to shift their production to the United States instead.
On Iran
The Times: Trump said he would not reveal the details of his policy – “I just don’t want to play the cards” – but reiterated his attack on Barack Obama’s landmark deal with Iran on nuclear weapons. “I’m not happy with the Iran deal, I think it’s one of the worst deals ever made, I think it’s one of the dumbest deals I’ve ever seen . . . Where you give . . . $150bn back to a country, where you give $1.7bn in cash. Did you ever see $100m in hundred-dollar bills? It’s a lot. $1.7bn in cash. Plane loads.”
On Russia and nuclear weapons
The Times: Trump floated the idea of reviewing sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin was prepared to move away from confrontation. “They have sanctions on Russia – let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. But Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit.”
Bild: Asked if he understands why eastern Europeans might fear Putin and Russia, Trump responded: “Of course. Indeed. I know that. I mean, I understand what’s going on there.”
On Syria
The Times: Trump was critical of Obama for failing to restrain Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Putin in their war on rebel forces in the country. The US could have made them stick to “a line in the sand” but now it was “too late” and the lack of western intervention had helped create a humanitarian crisis. “Aleppo was nasty. I mean when you see them shooting old ladies walking out of town — they can’t even walk and they’re shooting ’em — it almost looks like they’re shooting ’em for sport — ah no, that’s ... a terrible situation.”
Bild: Trump said he thought security zones should have been set up in Syria. “That would have been considerably cheaper. And the Gulf states should have had to pay for them. After all, they have money like hardly anyone else has. The whole thing would have been considerably cheaper than the trauma that Germany is now going through. I would have said: create security zones in Syria.”
On Iraq
The Times: The invasion of Iraq in 2003, he said, was “possibly the worst decision” ever made in American history. “It’s like throwing rocks into a beehive.”
On Afghanistan
Bild: US policy in Afghanistan had not succeeded despite a long military intervention, he said. “Nothing is going well. I believe we’ve been there for almost 17 years. But when you look at the whole region – in all fairness – we didn’t let our people do what they were tasked to do.
“I have just looked at something... Oh, I should not show you it at all, because it’s secret – but I have just taken a look at Afghanistan. If you look at the Taliban there – ... They’re just getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year. And you ask yourself ‘what’s going on there?’”
On Europe and Germany
Bild: Asked if there could be restrictions on Europeans who want to travel to the US in the future, Trump said: “That could happen, but we’ll see. I mean, we’re talking here about parts of Europe, parts of the world and parts of Europe, where we have problems, where they come in and cause problems. I don’t want to have these problems.”
Asked in the interview conducted on Friday in New York city, whether there was anything typically German about him, Trump, whose grandfather was German, said: “I like orderliness. I like it when things are dealt with in an orderly way. That’s what the Germans are quite well-known for. But I also like order and I like strength.”
On the Middle East and Jared Kushner
Bild: Trump said that he would appoint Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, to broker a Middle East peace deal. Asked what role Kushner would play, Trump said: “You know what? Jared is such a good lad, he will secure an Israel deal which no one else has managed to get. You know, he’s a natural talent, he is the top, he is a natural talent. You know what I’m talking about – a natural talent. He has an innate ability to make deals, everyone likes him.” Kushner’s wife, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, would not have any role in government, he said. She currently “has the kids” and was busy buying a house in Washington.
He said the Obama administration’s decision to abstain in the UN security council vote on Israeli settlements in December “was terrible” and said that Britain should have vetoed the resolution instead of voting in favour. He said he was hopeful that Britain would veto an upcoming resolution on Israel that could be presented this week. “I would hope for a British veto. I think it would be great if Great Britain would place a veto, because I’m not sure if the US would do so – extraordinarily enough. They won’t do it, right? Do you believe the US will place a veto? I have Jewish friends who organised a donor event for Obama. I say to them: ‘What on earth are you doing? Okay - what are you doing?’”
He refused to be drawn on whether he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “I’m not going to comment on that. But we’ll see.”
On the ‘Russia dossier’ sex allegations
The Times: Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent believed to be behind the dossier alleging that Trump took part in tawdry sex acts in a Russian hotel, “should be looked at” because the allegations were false. Trump said the widely reported suggestion that Steele had been hired by Republicans and Democrats seeking to discredit the president-elect was also false.
He said that he tore up the report. “I don’t even want to shake hands with people now I hear about this stuff.”
On Twitter use
The Times: Trump boasted about his 46 million followers for his handle @realDonaldTrump and said that despite the criticism that he used Twitter too much he hinted that he would continue to use his account when president. “I’d rather just let that build up and just keep it @realDonaldTrump, it’s working — and the tweeting, I thought I’d do less of it, but I’m covered so dishonestly by the press — so dishonestly — that I can put out Twitter — and it’s not 140, it’s now 280 — I can go bing bing bing . . . and they put it on and as soon as I tweet it out — this morning on television, Fox — ‘Donald Trump, we have breaking news’.”
.@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017