--- description: The president said the European Union is a "foe" of the U.S. when it comes to trade, as well as calling Russia and China foes. title: Trumps Calls the European Union a 'Foe' of the U.S. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ea5e1259bbcb0e/69893566bc6cfc00973e6751/trump-calls-european-union-foe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [U.S.](/tag/u-s/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Calls the European Union a 'Foe' of the U.S. by [Alix Langone](/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2018 6:03 PM CUT  Press conference of Donald Trump the President of the United States on the second day of the NATO Summit in Brussels. Press conference of Donald Trump the President of the United States on the second day of the NATO Summit in Brussels.Sadak Souici - Barcroft Media/Getty Images by [Alix Langone](/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2018 6:03 PM CUT President Donald Trump called the European Union a “foe” of the U.S. in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ Face The Nation. “Well I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe,” Trump told host Jeff Glor during an interview that took place at a [Trump golf course in Scotland](http://time.com/4378489/donald-trump-scotland/ "undefined"). “Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they’re a foe. But that doesn’t mean they’re bad,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they’re competitors. They want to do well and we want to do well.” > [](https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1018508577009537024) Trump’s comments come after [a tense NATO summit in Brussels](http://time.com/5336416/trump-nato-summit-putin-russia-germany/ "undefined"), in which Trump made numerous statements antagonizing U.S. allies, suggesting that other NATO countries don’t contribute enough to defense spending. [The Trump administration has also recently imposed steep tariffs](http://time.com/5319575/donald-trump-us-trade-tariffs-eu-india-turkey-china/ "undefined") on a number of goods that effect the E.U. and other U.S. allies like Canada, namely a 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariff that went into effect in June. The president also made his first official visit to the U.K., making controversial comments about Prime Minister Thersea May’s strategy in Brexit negotiations, [saying she should sue the E.U](http://time.com/5339054/theresa-may-says-president-trump-told-her-to-sue-the-eu-over-brexit/ "undefined"). He also said her handling of Brexit would [“probably kill”](http://time.com/5337991/trump-uk-protests/ "undefined") any chance of the U.S. and Britain working out a trade deal. On Monday, Trump will visit Helsinki, Finland, for a [one-on-one summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin](http://time.com/5339045/trump-putin-helsinki-summit-expectations/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5339167/trump-european-union-foe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5339167/trump-european-union-foe/"},"headline":"President Trump Calls the European Union a 'Foe' of the U.S.","datePublished":"2018-07-15T18:03:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:51:10.975Z","description":"He also said Russia and China are foes of the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/5339167/trump-european-union-foe/","keywords":["U.S.","politics","World","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ea5e1259bbcb0e/69893566bc6cfc00973e6751/trump-calls-european-union-foe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alix Langone","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alix-langone/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ea5e1259bbcb0e/69893566bc6cfc00973e6751/trump-calls-european-union-foe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NATO 2018 in Brussels","caption":"NATO 2018 in Brussels","creditText":"Sadak Souici - Barcroft Media/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/u-s/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5339167/trump-european-union-foe/","name":"President Trump Calls the European Union a 'Foe' of the U.S."}}]}] ```