US President Donald Trump used a White House meeting with the German Chancellor on Tuesday to blast European allies, praise China, waffle on tariffs and argue that the attack he launched against Iran prevented a nuclear war.
Attended by Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that his order to attack Iran even as negotiations were under way was justified.
“If we didn’t do what we’re doing right now, you would have had a nuclear war. And they would have taken out many countries, because, you know what, they’re sick people,” the US president said, adding that the US military had been successful against numerous Iranian naval and air targets. “Just about everything has been knocked out.”
Trump appeared to walk back Rubio’s assertion that Israel triggered the war. “I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
Trump has upended traditional US economic, trade and security policy by cosying up to long-standing adversaries China, Russia and North Korea and slamming many long-standing US allies in Europe and Asia.
The president took particular aim on Tuesday at Spain, which has refused to let the US military use jointly operated bases on its territory – notably a naval base at Rota and an airbase at Morón – during Washington’s ongoing conflict with Iran.
Trump ‘not happy’ with Spain, the UK
Britain has also raised his hackles for moving slowly in supporting the attack, including the use of a base on the island of Diego Garcia.
“Spain has been terrible,” he said. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain. By the way, I’m not happy with the UK either.”
The European Union (EU) is unlikely to respond officially, however, EU sources said, unless Trump moves beyond threats to concrete action.
That would likely spark renewed debate over the use of its anti-coercion instrument, a trade weapon that permits the broad use of tariffs, quotas and market bans in response to economic bullying.
Merz did not defend Spain but appeared to try and deflect Trump’s attention away from the Iran operations, referencing the broader debate over European funding of its own defence, which Washington wants to grow to as much as 5 per cent of GDP.
“We are trying to convince Spain to catch up with the three per cent or 3.5 per cent, which we agree on in Nato,” Merz said. “And as the president said, it’s correct. Spain is the only one that is not willing to accept that.”
But that did little to appease the mercurial president.
“Spain has been very, very uncooperative, and so has the UK. The UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have,” he said. “What they’re doing with energy and what they’re doing with immigration is horrible.”
Trump’s attention then turned to his European guest.
“How are we going to treat Germany? I think we should hit them very, very hard,” Trump said, before laughing and slapping the German chancellor on the leg.
Trump also boasted about his relationship with China and said he respects the Asian giant, weeks ahead of his trip to Beijing on March 31 for a much-anticipated summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“We used to lose a tremendous amount of money with China, and that’s no longer the case,” he said. “We have a very, very good relationship with China.”
The US president, who does not take setbacks well, has lashed out at the US Supreme Court, Democrats and critics since the high court ruled against his use of emergency powers to slap tariffs on much of the world.
On Tuesday, when asked about his longer-term strategy, Trump failed to provide much clarity in a rambling response on what he might do beyond temporary import tax provisions.
“We have a five-month period, up to five months, where we can go at 15 per cent, and while we’re doing that, as you know, we’re doing the various studies and things, and we’ll be coming out with tariffs, different tariffs, on different countries,” he said. “Every single country wants to make the deal; they already have, in other words, a deal that we have, using the other authority, they want to make the same deal.”
Trump, who has credited his “gut” as a main impetus for major decisions, said he ordered the attack against Iran because “I had a feeling” that Tehran would attack the US as negotiations over its nuclear programme stalled, without citing evidence.
US president expects Tehran’s response to wane
Trump said Iran was still launching missiles at targets around the region but predicted that Tehran’s response would wane under continued US and Israeli fire.
“They’ve shot a lot of them, and we’re knocking out a lot,” he said.
In response to Trump’s threat on Tuesday to cut off all trade with Spain, the European Commission said it would “always ensure that the interests of the European Union are fully protected”.
“The position of the EU has not changed,” Olof Gill, the EU’s trade spokesman, told the SCMP. “We expect the US to honour its commitments under our joint statement.”
Asked later why he did not defend Spain, Merz said any issue would have to involve the EU as a whole, which acts as a bloc. “There is no way to treat Spain particularly badly here. If we reach a result, then we all reach a joint result – and that includes Spain,” he explained.
In a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, meanwhile, Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby appeared to suggest that Israel carried out the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
“I’m talking about the goals of the American military campaign. Those are Israeli operations,” he said, reiterating that Washington was not pursuing regime change by force.
This echoed Rubio’s earlier remarks that “we knew that there was going to be an Israeli action”.
Trump’s bid to neutralise Iran and showcase US military power threatens to undercut his bid to maintain Republican control of Congress in the upcoming November midterms, as Middle East uncertainty causes oil prices to spike, raising gas prices at home.
Trump said on social media that he ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation to provide discount political risk insurance for tankers and other ships passing through the Gulf. He also said the US Navy would begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “if necessary”.
“No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD,” he said. “The United States’ ECONOMIC and MILITARY MIGHT is the GREATEST ON EARTH.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
