President Donald Trump warned Europe on Monday it is heading in “very bad directions” just days after he excoriated the continent over its unrestrained mass migration flood and looming “civilizational erasure.”
Trump targeted a “nasty” $140 million fine by the European Union (E.U.) against tech tycoon Elon Musk’s X social network before widening his attack, AFP reports.
“Look, Europe has to be very careful. (They’re) doing a lot of things. We want to keep Europe Europe,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad, very bad for the people. We don’t want Europe to change so much. They’re going in some very bad directions.”
The president’s comments follow criticism in the new U.S. national security strategy released last week of Europe as being over-regulated and facing “civilizational erasure” from unrestrained mass migration and the weak E.U., as Breitbart News reported.
The report doubled down on Trump’s call for the restoration of “Western identity”, combatting foreign influence, ending mass migration, and focusing more on broader U.S. priorities such as stopping drug cartels.
It asserted if current trends continue in Europe the continent and its economic issues will be “eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.”
“It is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies,” the document states.
In extraordinary language aimed at close allies, the strategy said Trump’s administration would be “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”
For his part, the AFP report notes Musk said after X was fined for breaking the E.U.’s digital rules the bloc should be “abolished.”
Brussels dismissed his statements as “completely crazy.”
When asked about the fine, Trump said that “I don’t think it’s right” before clarifying that “Elon has not called me to ask for help on that one” and saying he would get more details later.