Days away from being sworn in as US President, Donald Trump isn’t saying who he trusts more — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a longtime US ally, or Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump called it a draw — at least for now, in a joint interview conducted on Friday by German publication Bild and the Times of London.
“I start off trusting both, but let’s see how long that lasts,” he said. “It may not last long at all.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Trump praised Britain’s decision to exit from the European Union, slammed Merkel’s immigration policies and tore into NATO.
Here are the highlights, according to video excerpts of the interview and news reports released by the two media outlets.
On Brexit
An enthusiastic Trump praised Britain’s impending exit from the European Union as being “so smart.”
“I think Brexit is going to end up being a great thing,” Trump said to his interviewer from the Times, Michael Gove, one of the former leaders of the Brexit campaign.
Asked why he thought the UK’s Brexit campaign was successful, Trump blamed loose borders and concerns about the effects of immigration. He also tied it to US security concerns.
“Countries want their own identity. The UK wanted its own identity. I do believe this, if they hadn’t been forced to take in all of the refugees so many, with all the problems that entails, you wouldn’t have a Brexit… it probably could’ve worked out.”
According to the Times, Trump would offer Britain a quick and “fair” trade deal with America within weeks of taking office. That’s in stark contrast to outgoing President Obama who had said that the UK would be “at the back of the queue” for trade talks.
He also revealed that he was inviting Prime Minister Theresa May to visit him “right after” he gets into the White House and wants a trade agreement between the two countries secured “very quickly.”
On Tuesday, May will make her most detailed speech yet on Britain’s exit from the Europe Union.
On Merkel
Trump described Merkel as “by far the most important leader” in Europe but tore into her immigration policies, calling them “catastrophic.”
“I have great respect for her, I felt she was a great leader, I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all these illegals and taking all these people where ever they come from and nobody really knows where they come from.”
Merkel, who will run for a fourth term in elections this year, has stood firm on Germany’s position of accepting nearly all asylum seekers found to be legitimate refugees.
Germany took in more than one million refugees in 2015, making it the most open country in Europe to asylum seekers.
On immigration controls
Trump said he will immediately take action to tighten US immigration restrictions once he’s sworn in.
“This country we’re going to go very strong borders. From the day I get in. One of the first orders I’m going to sign. Day one.”
Trump reiterated plans to implement what he calls “extreme vetting” of people from the Muslim world, according to a Bild transcript translated into English by CNN.
“There will be extreme security vetting, it won’t be like it is now. We don’t have any proper security controls for people entering our country, they don’t really exist at the moment, like it has been the case in your country at least in the past.”
When asked if he would impose similar restrictions on Europe, the President-elect was noncommittal, according to Bild.
“That could happen. But we will see,” he said.
On Putin and sanctions
According to the Times, Trump suggested that a deal could be done to reduce sanctions on Russia.
“They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. But Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit.”
Trump’s stance on Russia has come under intense scrutiny particularly after revelations of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election.
On NATO
Trump, who’d expressed skepticism of NATO on the campaign trail, again criticized the defense alliance, saying it needed to do more to tackle terrorism.
“I said a long time ago that NATO had problems. Number one it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago.
“Number two the countries weren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying,” adding that this was unfair to the United States.
On Jared Kushner
Trump heaped praise on his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has been appointed as senior adviser to the president, reiterating he could play a peacemaker role.
“Do you know what? Jared is such a good guy; he will conclude an Israel agreement that no one else can do. You know, he is a natural talent, he is amazing, he is a natural talent,” Trump said, according to Bild.
On Iran
Trump also touched on the Iran nuclear agreement but declined to say whether he would demand changes to it.
“Well I don’t want to say what I’m gonna do with the Iran deal. I just don’t want to play the cards. I mean, look, I’m not a politician, I don’t go out and say, “I’m gonna do this” — I’m gonna do, I gotta do what I gotta do . . . But I’m not happy with the Iran deal, I think it’s one of the worst deals ever made,” he said, according to the Times.
Trump repeatedly slammed the deal on the campaign trail and in a 2015 op ed Trump said: “When I am elected president, I will renegotiate with Iran.”
Republican members of Congress have sharply criticized the deal since it was announced in 2014.
On Twitter
Trump said he doesn’t intend to lay off Twitter once he’s in the Oval Office and will keep his @realDonaldTrump account, according to the Times of London.
“I thought I’d do less of it, but I’m covered so dishonestly by the press — so dishonestly — that I can put out Twitter — and it’s not 140, it’s now 280 — I can go bing bing bing . . . and they put it on and as soon as I tweet it out — this morning on television, Fox — ‘Donald Trump, we have breaking news.'”