Donald Trump shook the world on Thursday when he poured heaps of praise on Ursula von der Leyen.
“She’s so fantastic,” the U.S. president said twice of the head of the European Commission when he spoke to reporters in Washington. “I hope we’re gonna meet.”
He said the EU wanted to make a trade deal “very badly,” after his administration slapped 20 percent reciprocal tariffs on the bloc.
Trump has previously said the EU was created to “screw” the United States.
His tariffs are currently on hold until July, giving the bloc an opportunity to strike a deal similar to the one secured by the U.K. that was announced on Thursday.Baseline 10 percent tariffs are still in place on the EU, along with 25 percent on cars, steel, and aluminum. The Commission revealed its new retaliatory list Thursday, worth nearly €100 billion of imports.
Trump and von der Leyen have met briefly once before ― during the funeral for Pope Francis on April 26, where they were seen chatting and shaking hands.
“In their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet,” spokeswoman Paola Piñho said in a post on X after that encounter.
Trump has a habit of buttering up world leaders ― at least when he wants to, describing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer as having a “beautiful accent” and a “beautiful, great wife” and Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a “genius.”
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