European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has publicly mocked Donald Trump’s chaotic White House – potentially inviting a row with the volatile US president.
Describing the tumultuous events the last week in Washington DC as “stunning” Mr Juncker claimed the EU was “better organised” than the US.
“We are better organised than the Trump administration. That is because if there are any internal difficulties, those difficulties are fixed in a direct conversation instead of by firing people,” Mr Juncker told the Politico Europe website.
Mr Trump – who tends to respond to perceived personal slights through his social media accounts – has yet to respond to Mr Juncker’s comments.
The EU president also used the same interview to say he had “explained” to the US president that he should “should stop wishing for others to imitate the British”.
The Republican politician and former television host has said he believes Brexit will spark a chain reaction of other countries leaving the EU – though there is no evidence of this so far.
Mr Trump tends to engage in rows with world leaders who he believes have criticised him. He initiated a back-and-forth with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in the wake of terror attacks in London, after he quoted the Mayor out of context.
The Trump administration was embroiled in turmoil over the last week after White House press secretary Sean Spicer quit in protest over the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director.
Mr Scaramucci, a controversial financier and political figure with little prior communications experience, spoke to the US press shortly after his appointment in which he characterised White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as trying to “suck his own cock”.
Reince Priebus, Mr Trump’s chief of staff, then resigned after a row over leading with Mr Scaramucci. Mr Priebus’s replacement John Kelly then fired Mr Scaramucci.
Mr Trump has yet to comment directly on the furore.
Mr Juncker is due to give his state of the union address next month in Strasbourg in which he will lay out his priorities for the future of the bloc.
There was good news for the Commission in the latest Eurobarometer survey published yesterday that showed trust in the EU returning following the end of the financial crisis – and a record number of Europeans saying they feel like true EU citizens.
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