He slams Merkel’s migrant ‘catastrophe’

ANGELA Merkel was lambasted over Germany’s open-door migration policy by Donald Trump last night.

The president- elect said that German Chancellor Mrs Merkel had made a ‘catastrophic mistake’ by allowing 1million migrants into her country – and he predicted that the European Union will fall apart.

In comments that will trigger alarm in Berlin and Brussels, Mr Trump said that he fully understood why Britain had voted for Brexit and he thought others could follow suit.

He said: ‘I do believe this, if [EU countries] 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. It probably could have worked out but this was the final straw, this was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

‘I think people want… their own identity, so if you ask me… I believe others will leave.’

Mr Trump was also far less warm about Mrs Merkel than he has been about Theresa May. He said that he had ‘great respect’ for the German leader.

But, in a withering attack, he told The Times and German newspaper Bild: ‘I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know, taking all of the people from wherever they come from.

‘And nobody even knows where they come from. So I think she made a catastrophic mistake, very bad mistake.’

Mr Trump added that he though the entire EU had become a ‘vehicle’ for Germany.

Meanwhile, the outgoing director of the CIA yesterday warned Mr Trump to watch his mouth – especially when talking about Vladimir Putin.

Criticising the president-elect’s regular posts on Twitter, John Brennan told Mr Trump to stop ‘talking and tweeting’ and said being so off the cuff was bad for national security.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday – a show that Mr Trump often watches – Mr Brennan said: ‘Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests and so therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound.’

Mr Trump said last week that he was not opposed to lifting sanctions if Russia was ‘really helping us’. He also said that, once he has been sworn in, meeting the Russian president was ‘absolutely fine with me’.

Mr Brennan called for Mr Trump to be ‘very, very careful’ about cosying up to Russia and said ‘the world is watching’ what he says.

He said: ‘I think [Mr Trump] has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road. Now that he’s going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, he’s going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that US and national security interests are protected.’

At a press conference last week Mr Trump, whose inauguration is on Friday, had likened his treatment by the intelligence agencies to being in Nazi Germany. But Mr Brennan said the comparison was ‘outrageous’.

He said: ‘The world is watching now what Trump says and listening very carefully. If he doesn’t have confidence in the intelligence community, what signal does that send to our partners and allies, as well as our adversaries? It’s more than just about Mr Trump.’

It was claimed that Mr Trump was planning a summit with Mr Putin for his first foreign trip as president.

Mr Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed the claim as ‘100 per cent false’.