European officials reject claim world leaders are ‘laughing’ at Trump, praise his ‘strong message’

UNITED NATIONS, NY – Foreign ministers from European countries with close ties to the US have responded to Vice President Kamala Harris’ suggestion that world leaders are “laughing” at former President Trump, dismissing the claim.

During the September presidential debate, Harris said, “World leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I’ve talked to military leaders, some of them working with you, they say he’s a disgrace.”

When asked about this quote, the foreign ministers who attended the United Nations High-Level Week emphasized that they do not have an opinion one way or the other about the US election and will cooperate with whoever wins.

“We are friends of America,” said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, noting that Italy and the US are “two sides of the same coin.” “If Trump becomes the new president of the United States, we will work with him as we worked with him when he was the president of the United States.”

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“We worked well with Biden, with Bush, with Reagan, with Clinton, and with Obama,” Tajani added. “For us, the transatlantic relationship is an important strategy for our foreign policy, Europe and America.”

The foreign ministers of Lithuania and the Czech Republic stressed that they would not interfere in the election by stating their preferences, instead saying they “leave it up to the American citizens to decide.”

“My role is not to comment on such a political statement,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.

However, Lipavsky praised Trump’s “strong” message on defense spending, which he hopes Europe will continue to embrace in the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

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“The point is that Donald Trump, in his time, had one powerful message in Europe, and that message was very moving and very loud now because he was saying spend more on your defense,” said Lipavsky.

“My government spends a lot of money on defense,” he added. “We want to reach that 2% of GDP, which they will reach this year, and we will continue next year. So, (if) Donald Trump becomes president with this message, ‘Please spend 2%,’ we will be OK.”

President Trump reacts next to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as they attend a working lunch during the NATO leaders’ summit in Watford, Britain, December 4, 2019. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis highlighted the “very long history” between the two countries, saying the relationship is “beyond politics.”

Instead, he reiterated the message that whoever wins the election will need to focus on the same defense spending message that Trump pushed during his first administration.

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Before the Trump administration, only a few NATO members were sticking to their commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defense, but that number has increased significantly due to Trump’s persistence and strong stance on the issue.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in June reported that 23 of the 32 countries have reached the minimum spending requirement, which helps improve the bloc’s ability to support Ukraine and, possibly, prevent Russian aggression beyond its current ambitions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former President Trump during a visit to Mar-a-Lago in Florida in July. (@PM_ViktorOrban)

No European nation, has extolled the success of Trump’s first term and voiced hopes for a strong second term like Hungary. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó indicated that his government would have “high hopes” for the new Trump administration.

“We have high expectations because we believe that many of the major problems that concern us most can be solved by the administration of President Trump,” said Szijjártó, noting that he is speaking as a foreign minister who has been in NATO for 10 years. years under his belt.

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“I didn’t see anyone laughing at Trump,” Szijjártó said. “What I have seen many people fear. I have seen many people fear that the president of the US is honest, not a hostage of a liberal group, who represents a patriotic position, and speaks clearly about America first.”

Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have done little to hide their close friendship, with Trump referring to the Hungarian leader as “the strongest man in Europe” and speaking highly of the former president.

Orbán showed that this is changing when he chose to leave the NATO summit in Washington, DC, earlier this year to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to discuss foreign relations.

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“Under President Trump, everything was under control,” Szijjártó said. “Since President Trump has left office, the entire security situation in the world is deteriorating. So, I mean, these are events.”

“If we base it on our experience, we say yes, from the point of view of US-Hungary relations, I think that President Trump will bring another impetus, newness, strength to this relationship. And I think that if President Trump is elected, I think that the world has a good chance to be a relatively peaceful place the current situation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.