America’s enemies? The EU is top of the list
DONALD TRUMP yesterday described the European Union as top of his list of global foes, while downplaying expectations of his summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki today.
During an interview with US TV network NBC, filmed at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland at the end of his UK visit, the US president was asked to identify his “biggest competitor, his biggest foe”.
To the surprise of many, he listed the EU ahead of both Russia and China.
Mr Trump said: “Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us on trade. Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe.
“I respect the leaders of those countries – but in a trade sense, they’ve really taken advantage of us. And many of those countries are in Nato and they weren’t paying their bills.”
His comments came hours before he was due to leave the UK for Helsinki for his one-to-one with Mr Putin. Mr Trump said Russia was also a foe “in many respects” and also called China an “economic foe”.
At the Finnish presidential palace, which will host Mr Trump and Mr Putin, last-minute preparations were under way as at least 2,000 protesters gathered outside. Yet it was still unclear what would be on the agenda for discussion between the pair. Mr Trump remained vague about his goals.
“I go in with low expectations,” he said. “I’m not going with high expectations. I think that getting along with Russia is a good thing but it’s possible we won’t.” When questioned about his objectives, he said: “I’ll let you know after the meeting.”
Asked if he would seek extradition of the 12 Russians spies indicted by the US Attorney General’s office on Friday for hacking into the Democratic National Committee, he remained equivocal. “Well, I might,” he said. “I hadn’t thought of that. But I certainly, I’ll be asking about it.”
John Bolton, his National Security Adviser, said yesterday that subjects up for discussion remained fluid.
“We have asked, and the Russians have agreed, that it will be basically unstructured. We are not looking for concrete deliverables,” he told US media on Sunday. He added it was “hard to believe” that Mr Putin did not know about his regime’s meddling in the 2016 US election but said extraditions were unlikely.
Hurricane Donald, which crossed the Atlantic last week gathering strength, has made landfall in Finland. Mr Trump will today hold talks with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in a meeting that could determine the future of East-west relations for years to come. The Russian leader is fresh from the triumphant staging of the World Cup: none of the concerns about violence or unfinished stadiums materialised. Mr Putin will be cock-ahoop, just as he was after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. They were followed by the invasion and annexation of Crimea.
Mr Putin is emboldened when his country is seen internationally in a good light, and the World Cup has certainly boosted Russia’s reputation. But we need to set that against everything else that is going on. On Friday, indictments against 12 Russian nationals were handed down by the US Justice Department as part of the investigation into attempted manipulation of the presidential election by hacking. They are members of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency, and were acting “in their official capacities”.
It is difficult to believe Mr Trump is continuing with his visit in the light of such allegations. Moreover, the Russian state’s apparent culpability in the Novichok attack on the Skripals in Salisbury, and the subsequent death of an innocent woman, continue to reverberate, or at least they should. The Americans expelled 60 diplomats partly in response to that incident; Mr Trump hardly mentioned it on his visit here.
US foreign policy towards Russia is circumspect bordering on hostile. Yet the president is set on forging a new relationship with Mr Putin that risks both undermining his own government’s approach and giving the Russian leader the credibility he craves. When Mr Trump sits down to sup today, he should be sure to carry a long spoon.