Donald Trump: Chancellor Merkel made a 'disastrous mistake'

(Baonghean.vn) - US President-elect Donald Trump has called German Chancellor Angela Merkel's stance on migrants a 'disastrous mistake'. He claimed that this policy would cause even more countries to leave the European Union (EU) after Britain.

Trump believes that Merkel's open-door migrant policy could lead to many member states leaving the EU. Photo: dpa.

President-elect Trump has strongly criticized Chancellor Merkel's open-door policy on migrants in a joint interview published in Germany's Bild and Britain's The Times of London on January 15.

“I think she made a catastrophic mistake, which was to take in all the outlaws, to take in all the people, wherever they came from,” he declared.

In 2015, some 900,000 migrants, many from Syria, arrived in Germany after Ms Merkel opened the border gates, declaring “we can do this”.

The billionaire businessman also said Germany was “clearly impressed” by the consequences of her policies following the Berlin terror attack that killed 12 people in December.

Trump said he had “great respect” for Merkel and would begin his term with confidence in the “great leader,” but his confidence may not last.

Brexit deal

Trump has promised to propose a trade deal with Britain within weeks of taking office to help make Brexit a “great thing”.

“We’re going to work very hard to get it done quickly and properly. Good luck to both sides,” Trump said.

“I’m going to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May. She’s meeting with her and we’ll meet after I get into the White House, and I think we’ll get something done very quickly.”

On January 14, Mrs. May affirmed that she would lead the country towards a “hard Brexit”.

Trump said NATO members have not paid their fair share of the bloc's contributions. Photo: dpa.

Other countries will leave

Trump warned that other countries in the 28-member EU would follow Britain after Brexit over immigration.

“I think it will be very difficult,” he said, “People, countries want their own identity, and the UK wants its own identity.”

“If migrants continue to pour into different parts of Europe… I think it will be very difficult to maintain the bloc because people are very angry about this.”

He said the massive influx of people in 2015 was the “last straw” that convinced British voters to back leaving the EU in the June 24 referendum.

“If they hadn’t been forced to take in all the migrants, so many, with all the problems that come with that, I don’t think there would have been a Brexit. That was the last straw.”

The EU has become “a vehicle at the service of Germany,” he added.

NATO is obsolete

Trump described the NATO alliance as an “obsolete” organization.

“I said a long time ago that NATO has many problems. The most prominent is that it is outdated, because it was created many years ago,” he said.

He insisted that NATO remained “very important to me”, but that some NATO allies were not spending enough money.

“We have to protect countries. But a lot of these countries are not paying what they should be paying, and I think that's unfair to the United States.”

It is known that US contributions to NATO account for about 70% of the bloc's spending.

According to Trump, BMW will be subject to high import taxes if it builds a new factory in Mexico instead of the US. Photo: dpa.

BMW Taxation

He has threatened German carmaker BMW with a 35% tariff on cars it plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the US market.

He told the German newspaper that BMW should build a new factory in the US, as this would be “much better” for the company.

Merkel has also recently criticized Trump's protectionist policies, and has said that there is no guarantee of cooperation between the two countries.

“From the point of view of some of our traditional partners – and I am also thinking about the transatlantic relationship – there is no permanent guarantee of close cooperation with European countries,” she told an audience in Brussels.

Thu Giang

(According to dpa, AFP, Reuters)