With just days to go to the inauguration, US President-elect Donald Trump slammed the European Union and its largest economy Germany by saying that the European Union is a vehicle for Germany in an interview with Michael Gove, British conservative member of the parliament and the German newspaper Bild. Mr. Trump added that German chancellor Angela Merkel, similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a problematic ally.

This is a sharp change in rhetoric compared to the Obama administration, which considers German chancellor a steadier and reliable partner. In addition to that, Mr. Trump predicted that the United Kingdom won’t be the last country to leave the European Union,  “I believe others will leave. I do think keeping it together is not going to be as easy as a lot of people think. And I think this if refugees keep pouring into different parts of Europe.….. It’s going to be very hard to keep it together because people are angry about it. He also called Brexit a smart move since he considers the European Union to be a vehicle for Germany. He also changed the Obama rhetoric that the United Kingdom would have to stand in the queue to negotiate trade deals with the US. Instead, Mr. Trump cited the UK as a special ally.