Trump declares War on Europeans

US President Donald Trump’s likely pick for ambassador to the European Union has said that the single currency “could collapse” in the next year and a half.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Ted Malloch, a businessman and strident Brexiteer, said that he would “short the euro”—terminology used by investment professionals when they take a position betting that an asset will decrease in value.

Read More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/donald-trump-ted-malloch-euro-collapse-eu-ambassador-pick-single-currency-european-union-brexit-a7546756.html

 

In Friday evening, many in Europe will be huddled in front of their television sets, watching Donald Trump’s inauguration in a fog of foreboding and disbelief.

The schadenfreude some may have felt after the American election has given way to cold fear. As the president-elect repeatedly dismisses European integration and the NATO alliance, many on the Continent have felt the common ground between the U.S. and Europe crumble beneath their feet.

Will Washington turn its back on Europe? And if it doesn’t, how will people here cope with the new American administration’s hostility to the very idea of a united Europe?

Read more: http://www.politico.eu/article/christoph-heusgen-german-transatlanticist-tasked-with-tackling-donald-trump-angela-merkel-chief-foreign-policy-adviser/

CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday said President-elect Donald Trump’s comparison of the intelligence community’s handling of unverified reports on Russian intelligence to Nazi Germany was “outrageous.”

After a leaked-but-unverified dossier of compromising information reportedly shared with Trump during an intelligence briefing was reported by news outlets, Trump lashed out at the intelligence community, asking on Twitter, “Are we living in Nazi Germany?”

 “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?” he tweeted.
Read more: http://www.politico.eu/article/cia-chief-calls-trump-nazi-germany-comparison-outrageous/

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump planned for next week as a dispute over Trump’s border wall plan exploded into a showdown that threatens one of the world’s biggest bilateral trading relationships.

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Trump, hours later, characterized the scuttling of the meeting as a mutual decision between the two governments, even as he called Mexico disrespectful in its approach.

“Unless Mexico is going to treat the U.S. fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless and I want to go a different route,” Trump said in a speech to Republican lawmakers at a retreat in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-26/mexico-s-president-cancels-u-s-visit-as-trump-feud-deepens

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s advisers have apparently given up on the notion that she should expect statesmanlike behavior from President Donald Trump.

German officials’ ongoing concerns about the Trump administration involve their inability to effectively communicate with Trump’s advisers and the belief that he may not honor existing trade agreements involving their country’s interests. As a result, Merkel’s advisers are saying they’ve “given up” on the idea that Trump will act like a president

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/26/germany-gives-up-on-president-trump-angela-merkels-advisors-dont-believe-hell-act-presidential/