Mick Mulvaney says President Donald Trump has "tapped into" issues between the bloc and the US which will have a lasting impact.
ADVERTISEMENTEurope's relationship with the United State will never be the same again, a former White House chief of staff has told Euronews.
Mick Mulvaney, now the US special envoy to Northern Ireland, said even a Joe Biden presidency would not reset EU-US relations to how they were prior to incumbent Donald Trump taking office in January 2017.
He said Trump had opened American eyes to making balanced trade deals and ensuring Europeans pay their fair share in NATO.
"Generally, the natural reaction is correct in that things will warm [between the EU and US under a Biden presidency] but they’re unlikely to go back all the way to what they were before the Trump administration," said Mulvaney.
"I think it’s unreasonable to assume that they [EU relations] will go back to the way things were, say under Obama or George W. Bush or Clinton.
"Because the president [Trump] really did tap into a couple of things.
"First of all, on trade: we are now more aware of our trade deals and want to make sure our trade deals are fair and balanced.
"We used to use trade and give up things in trade agreements as part of our foreign policy to say counter the Soviets during the Cold War. That’s not a basis for a trade policy anymore.
"We also want folks to pay more for their own defence in NATO for example. That’s something that has resonated. It came from the president as somewhat unexpected, but it resonated with Democrats and Republicans alike."
Despite Trump's insistence that he won last week's presidential election, European leaders have congratulated Biden on his victory. Many spoke on the phone to the president-elect for the first time on Tuesday.
Mulvaney, meanwhile, insisted Trump would leave office gracefully.
"I’m absolutely convinced he will leave gracefully, whether or not that includes a formal concession remains to be seen," he said.
**Listen to the full interview with Mulvaney in the video player, above. **