Trump blasts, Europe bites back

Trump blasts, Europe bites back
By Catherine Hardy with Reuters, Daily Mirror
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The US President-elect's comments about NATO, Ukraine and the EU among others are ruffling feathers on the continent as leaders and diplomats respond.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted Europe’s destiny lies in its own hands.

Her comment comes in response to US President-elect Donald Trump.

#BREAKING Europe's fate 'in our own hands', says Merkel after Trump criticism

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 16, 2017

Angela Merkel: We’ll respond to Trump’s criticism when he takes office https://t.co/VLjxDuJ7Elpic.twitter.com/NIobN4kZDU

— POLITICO Europe (@POLITICOEurope) January 16, 2017

Trump said in a newspaper interview he believed other countries would leave the EU after Britain.

“I think we Europeans have our fate in our own hands,” Merkel told a joint news conference with New Zealand’s prime minister

“I am personally waiting for the inauguration of the US president. Then, of course, we will work with him on all levels,” Merkel added, when asked about Trump’s criticism of her migrant policy.

‘CATASTROPHIC MISTAKE’: Trump Slams Merkel’s Migrant Policy https://t.co/YFlNOaIgtMpic.twitter.com/4q9ZWuwmR0

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 16, 2017

Donald Trump’s dismissal of NATO as “obsolete” has also raised eyebrows in Brussels.

Some, including German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, say it contradicts comments made only days ago by Trump’s incoming Defence Secretary.

Germany says NATO concerned about Trump 'obsolete' remark https://t.co/xWsTJBa4JV

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) January 16, 2017

Boris Johnson

The UK’s Foreign Secretary says he is sure Britain and the US can conclude a free trade deal that is in their mutual interest.

Boris Johnson welcomed the UK’s decision to leave the EU, a move which could give it the opportunity to conclude bilateral trade agreements.

What Boris said

“It is very good news that the United States of America wants to do a good free trade deal with us and wants to do it very fast and it’s great to hear that from President-elect Donald Trump,” Johnson said.

“Clearly it will have to be a deal that is very much in the interests of both sides but I’ve no doubt that it will be.”

Boris in 6 quotes

Donald Trump is not the only figure on the global stage capable of creating waves with his words.

As the UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson holds one of the highest offices in the land.

Being the country’s top diplomat requires great skill to navigate and negotiate some of the most complex situations on the planet.

Here are some Boris gaffes the likes of which he would be advised to try and avoid during his time in role:

  • Israel 2015 – a boycott of Israeli goods is “completely crazy” and supported by “corduroy-jacketed, snaggle-toothed, lefty academics in the UK.”
  • EU – 2016 – “Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried to unify Europe and it ends tragically.”
  • Papua New Guinea 2006 – “For 10 years, we in the Tory Party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing.”
  • Turkey 2016 – won 1,000 UK pounds for a crude limerick he penned about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
  • China 2008 – suggested table tennis was not invented by the Chinese but was developed from a Victorian English game called “whiff-whaff”.
  • Hillary Clinton 2007 – “She has got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips and a steely blue stare like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.”

The 12 most outrageous quotes from new British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson https://t.co/oDJs96fCet

— Catherine Hardy (@fernojay) January 16, 2017

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