US President-elect Donald Trump said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had made a “catastrophic mistake” with a policy that let a wave of more than one million migrants into her country.
In a joint interview with The Times and the German newspaper Bild, Trump also said the European Union had become “a vehicle for Germany” and predicted that more EU member states would vote to leave the bloc as Britain did last June.
“I think she made one very catastrophic mistake, and that was taking all of these illegals,” Trump said of Merkel, who in August 2015 decided to keep Germany's borders open for refugees, mostly Muslims, fleeing war zones in the Middle East.
CIA Director John Brennan has stern warning for Donald Trump
“And nobody even knows where they come from. So I think she made a catastrophic mistake, very bad mistake,” Trump said, adding that he always had “great respect” for Merkel and that he still viewed her as one of the most important world leaders.
Merkel faces a tough re-election battle in September.
Trump, who takes office on Friday, campaigned for president on promises of banning Muslims from entering the United States or imposing more severe restrictions on migrants from countries or regions with high levels of militant Islamist activity.
Trump said Germany had only recently gotten a clear impression of the consequences of Merkel's migration policy, without elaborating.
Last month, a 24-year-old Tunisian failed asylum-seeker drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people, before fleeing to Italy, where he was shot dead by police.
The attacker, Anis Amri, came to Germany in July 2015 after having spent four years in jail in Italy. That means he entered Europe before Merkel's August 2015 border decision.
“I do believe this, if they (the EU countries) hadn't been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many... I think that you wouldn't have a Brexit,” Trump said.
“It probably could have worked out but this was the final straw, this was the final straw that broke the camel's back.”
Donald Trump's most controversial quotes
Donald Trump's most controversial quotes
1/18 On Mexicans
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”
AFP/Getty Images
2/18 On Senator McCain
“He’s not a war hero... He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Getty Images
3/18 On Megyn Kelly
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
AFP/Getty Images
4/18 On Vladimir Putin
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.”
Getty Images
5/18 On his popularity
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
AFP/Getty Images
6/18 On torture
"I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."
Getty Images
7/18 On his body
“Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, [Republican rival Marco Rubio] referred to my hands: ‘If they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
AFP/Getty Images
8/18 On president Obama
“He is the founder of Isis.”
Getty Images
9/18 On the Second Amendment
"Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."
AFP/Getty Images
10/18 On Hilary Clinton's emails
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
AFP/Getty Images
11/18 On sexual assault
In a statement regarding the release of a 2005 video in which he can be heard boasting about sexual assault:
“This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course.”
Getty Images
12/18 On tax loopholes
"I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from."
AFP/Getty Images
13/18 On his accuser
“Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.”
Getty Images
14/18 On Hillary Clinton
“Such a nasty woman”
Getty Images
15/18 On his pro-life stance
“Based on what she's saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day, and that's unacceptable”
Getty Images
16/18 On his accusers
"Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
Getty Images
17/18 On the 'rigged' election system
“I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win.”
Getty Images
18/18 On Hillary Clinton
“I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Getty Images
1/18 On Mexicans
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”
AFP/Getty Images
2/18 On Senator McCain
“He’s not a war hero... He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Getty Images
3/18 On Megyn Kelly
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
AFP/Getty Images
4/18 On Vladimir Putin
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.”
Getty Images
5/18 On his popularity
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
AFP/Getty Images
6/18 On torture
"I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."
Getty Images
7/18 On his body
“Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, [Republican rival Marco Rubio] referred to my hands: ‘If they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
AFP/Getty Images
8/18 On president Obama
“He is the founder of Isis.”
Getty Images
9/18 On the Second Amendment
"Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."
AFP/Getty Images
10/18 On Hilary Clinton's emails
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
AFP/Getty Images
11/18 On sexual assault
In a statement regarding the release of a 2005 video in which he can be heard boasting about sexual assault:
“This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course.”
Getty Images
12/18 On tax loopholes
"I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from."
AFP/Getty Images
13/18 On his accuser
“Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.”
Getty Images
14/18 On Hillary Clinton
“Such a nasty woman”
Getty Images
15/18 On his pro-life stance
“Based on what she's saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day, and that's unacceptable”
Getty Images
16/18 On his accusers
"Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
Getty Images
17/18 On the 'rigged' election system
“I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win.”
Getty Images
18/18 On Hillary Clinton
“I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Getty Images
Turning to his family's German roots, Trump said he was proud to have had ancestors from Germany and that he loved Germany. Asked about character traits he would link to his German roots, Trump said he liked order and strength.
The United States is Germany's most important trading partner, and Trump's protectionist talk has unnerved business leaders and exporters in Europe's biggest economy.
In the interview, Trump said the United States will impose a border tax of 35 percent on cars that German carmaker BMW plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the US market.
Comments
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.