Throughout Donald Trump’s first term, the president had an odd habit of arguing that the European Union came together as part of an anti-American initiative. The Republican never explained why he believed this or how he even arrived at such a conclusion, but he peddled the false claim quite a bit.
As his second term unfolds, he’s picking up where he left off.
A couple of weeks ago, for example, at the first White House Cabinet meeting of the year, Trump declared that the European Union “was formed in order to screw the United States.” The president added, “I mean, look, let’s be honest. The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it.”
His use of the “let’s be honest” phrase suggested Trump perceived his comments as candid, but he clearly had no idea what he was talking about. In fact, soon after, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who ran the European Council during Trump’s first term, stepped up to explain reality, though that message apparently didn’t make its way to the Oval Office.
On the contrary, in a social media message this week, the American president wrote that the European Union “was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States.” An hour later, the Republican echoed the sentiment, condemning “the polluted thinking of the European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of ‘screwing’ the United States of America.”








