Trump Grilled by British Reporter Over Claim the EU Was ‘Constructed to Screw’ the US

President Donald Trump pushed back at a Thursday press conference after being confronted with his recent claim the European Union was designed to “screw” the United States.

Trump held a press conference at the White House with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer where he questioned whether he said he actually used a “bad word” when talking about the EU.

“The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it, and they’ve done a good job of it,” Trump told reporters this week.

He also threatened the 27-nation group with a 25% tariff, something he’s also promised to impose on Canada and Mexico.

The president defended his comments on Thursday after earning pushback from the EU.

When confronted by Sky reporter Beth Rigby with his comments about the EU being formed to “screw” the United States on Thursday, Trump asked, “Did I use the word that you said, that bad word?”

Rigby had asked Trump what Starmer can do to “persuade” him to not impose tariffs on the United Kingdom.

The president defended his position on the EU, saying he has “problems” with and noted tariffs on the United States. Trump claimed he would only impose “reciprocal tariffs.”

“They sue our companies. They sued Apple, got 16 or $17 billion, which was, I think, totally a ridiculous decision. And they’re suing Google for a lot of money. They’re suing a lot of other companies, and we don’t like the way they’re treating our people, and we don’t like the way they’re treating our companies. They sell us cars. We don’t sell them cars. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our much of our agriculture,” Trump said.

He railed against the EU and NATO, saying the United States “will get our money back,” referencing funding going to Ukraine and Israel.

“The EU was very, very tough on us. And from the standpoint of trade, then you could take it a step further and go into NATO. And that was a very tough situation for us. I mean, it’s been a very tough situation because we were paying a disproportionate share and it wasn’t good. So as you know, they paid hundreds of billions of dollars after I got involved. And they evened it out a little bit, but not very much. And then if you look at the war, we’re in for $300 billion dollars plus, and they’re in for $100 billion. They get their money back, and now we’ll get our money back also.”

Trump added he has a “warm spot” for the United Kingdom, while Starmer added that the UK’s trade is “fair and balanced.”

“Our trade is obviously fair and balanced and, in fact, you got a bit of a surplus,” Starmer told Trump. “So we’re in a different position there. And obviously we contributed hugely in relation to Ukraine and taken together with Europe about 50% all in.”

“It’ll work out,” Trump responded.

Watch above via Fox News.