US relations strained after push for Greenland, EU foreign policy chief says - USA Today
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's provocations against America's allies, from his push to take over Greenland to a tariff threat against Europe over its plans to partner with Canada, have damaged relations with the United States, the European Union's foreign policy chief says.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that it's obvious the relationship with the United States has suffered as a result of the incidents.
"To be very frank and open, it's clear that the trust between us has been hit. I mean, if you break a vase and glue it back together, it's not the same vase," Kallas, who is also vice president of the European Commission, told USA TODAY in a Sept. 24 interview at the EU's offices in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.
Europe is willing to work to protect the alliance, Kallas said, "because we clearly see that when we act together, we are much stronger in front of all the adversaries or difficult situations that we have right now in the world."
She listed artificial intelligence, climate change, and global organized crime as some of those areas.
Her comments come after Trump signed a deal with NATO ally Denmark and Greenland that allows the United States to expand its military presence on an island he's said America needs for its national security. The agreement falls short of Trump's demand to control the Danish territory and largely affirms powers the United States already had.
European leaders have welcomed the deal as a resolution to Trump's threats to take the autonomous territory by force.
"This is a deal that is beneficial for the Arctic security, so I think it's a good deal. The question might be whether all these threats were necessary to get to that. We as Europeans feel that it could have just gotten to that point also with friendly negotiations," Kallas told USA TODAY.
While at the United Nations this week, Trump pointedly refrained from attacking America's allies after threatening the EU over its proposal to make Canada an associate member earlier this month. The made-up category does not currently exist, and it's not clear what benefits Canada would derive from it.
Trump told reporters on Sept. 16 that if he decides the proposal that would draw the EU closer to Canada is a "hostile act," then he would "put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things.”
In the interview, Kallas brushed off the dispute.
She said the 27-nation bloc is "operating with really good thoughts" with the potential arrangement with Canada, a country that the United States is battling in a trade war.
"I mean we are operating in an environment where a lot of countries in the world, around the world, want to have deeper relationships with Europe, because we are a trusted and credible partner, and one can never have too many friends," Kallas said.
"So I think our friendship does not really concern anybody else," she added.
