Top EU pol Michel voices Trump concerns, slams Orbán in Semafor interview

European Council President Charles Michel carefully voiced concerns about the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House in November, telling Semafor he has doubts about the former president’s support for a “strong and stable” European Union.

“I feel the sincerity of [US President] Joe Biden and his administration to support the EU integration because I think Joe Biden understands very well that the EU integration, a strong and stable EU, a strong and prosperous EU, a strong and secure EU, this is good for the world, this is good for the United States,” he said in an interview Wednesday in Washington on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

“I am not certain that” Trump “has the same conviction,” Michel said.

Michel, who said he hasn’t had any recent contact with Trump’s team, noted the two did interact when Trump was president and he was serving as Belgium’s prime minister. He added that the choice is ultimately the responsibility of the American electorate.

Europeans “will work with the American administration in the future and we will defend and promote our common values, our common interests, and defend our interests,” he said. Michel also noted that, across Democrats and the GOP, there is a “similar approach in terms of economic protectionism,” referring to trade.

The Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Asked whether he has confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the US given the doubts over his mental acuity following the June presidential debate, Michel declined to comment. “This is really part of the electoral debate in the United States and I’m not going to comment on the question,” he said.

Michel also rebuked Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his recent trip to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing it as a “political mistake” and a “blatant violation of the principle of loyal cooperation among the European institutions.” He welcomed plans by EU members to show Orbán, who recently took over the rotating EU presidency, a “yellow card” and to express their objections.

“This situation has shown the very strong unity of the … member states to support Ukraine and to make clear this rotating presidency, when he went to Moscow, was not speaking on behalf of the EU and was not expressing the EU’s position,” Michel, who initially raised objections to Orbán’s trip last week, told Semafor.

In an interview with Fox News Radio on Wednesday, Trump said that NATO countries “should be happy” if he is reelected “because you wouldn’t have had Ukraine attacked if I were president.” Trump also said he isn’t seeking to pull the US out of NATO, but he also accused Europe of taking advantage of the US.

“I just want them to pay their bills,” he said.

Semafor interviewed Michel as NATO member states gathered to ink plans to support Ukraine amid Russia’s brutal war, including a commitment to provide a minimum of €40 billion support for Kyiv in the next year.

Biden also announced Tuesday evening that the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Italy would provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems to help defend against Russian strikes. And leaders plan to move control of elements of Ukraine military aid from the US to NATO control, in what some have described as a push to “Trump-proof” the alliance. The former president has pushed NATO allies to spend more on defense and suggested the US may not defend those who do not meet specific targets.

The forthcoming NATO communique is set to declare that Ukraine’s path toward membership in the alliance is “irreversible,” and to sharply criticize China for its support to Russia’s defense industrial base.

“I believe that the path to NATO for Ukraine is irreversible,” Michel said in the interview. “I feel that NATO will be stronger in the future with Ukraine as a NATO member.”

Over the long term, European nations are also trying to boost their own domestic defense production capabilities as the US puts its focus on China and becomes increasingly isolationist.

“We understand that we have to develop our own sovereignty, our own autonomy, not to take distance from the United States but to be a stronger ally and to be a better partner and also because we have our own interests that we have to defend,” Michel said. “We see and we accept that for the United States, it’s a bipartisan approach, China is the topic number one and the competition between the United States and China is totally number one for the United States. We respect that.”

• Trump will broker peace in Ukraine if he is reelected, US House Speaker Mike Johnson told Semafor in an interview earlier this week.
• Michel snapped back at Trump earlier this year for suggesting Europe needed to do more to support Ukraine.
• Some top European officials have met with Keith Kellogg, a former Trump White House official, while in town for the NATO summit, Reuters reported.
• After his Putin meeting, Orbán surprised Europe with a visit to China.