European Council President António Costa said Europe and the U.S. “must act as allies” — and urged the Republican leader to show “respect.”
“We respect the choice of Americans, and they need to respect the democratic choices of our citizens,” he added during a press conference in Ireland. “When all the leaders elect me President of the European Council, President Trump must respect this. As we respect that American citizens elected him President of the United States. It is like this, that allies behave with each other.”
Asked by POLITICO to respond to Trump’s withering assessment, the European Commission’s Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho mounted a spirited defense of Europe’s leaders.
“We are very pleased and grateful to have excellent leaders, starting with the leader in this house, president of the European Commission von der Leyen, who we are really proud of, who can lead us in the many challenges that the world is facing,” Pinho said.
Pinho also lauded the “many other leaders at the head of the 27 member states that are part of this European project, of this peace project, who are leading the EU with all the challenges that it is facing, from trade to war in our neighborhood.”
She added, “So let me use the opportunity to reiterate what is the sense of many of the millions of citizens in the EU: We are proud of our leaders.”
Europe has repeatedly come under attack from the Trump administration in recent days, with a U.S. national security manifesto suggesting the continent is in civilizational decline, and top officials lambasting the bloc for censorship after the Commission fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X €120 million for breaching transparency rules.