04:28 – Trump receives Juncker, meeting under pressure at the White House



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Heads-to-Head in the Oval Office Could Be Tense: Donald Trump Receives Wednesday the Head of the European Executive Jean-Claude Juncker at a Time When the Commercial War That Triggered Crunched In His Own camp.

Proof of the turmoil surrounding the US President's standoff: His administration has just announced $ 12 billion in emergency aid to farmers affected by Washington's tariff retaliation China, the European Union or Canada.

In this context, the meeting between the real estate mogul, at the White House for 18 months, and the Luxembourger, head of the European Commission since 2014, promises to be particularly delicate.

Known for his outspokenness – and his sense of humor – the head of the European executive said that Mr. Trump told him, on the occasion of the last G7: "Jean- Claude, you're a killer ur brutal "

" I think he said that as a compliment but I'm not sure … ", he added.

Donald Trump regularly threatens to cross a new in the absence of concessions from Brussels: imposing tariffs on imports of European cars, which particularly worries Germany, where this key sector employs some 800,000 people.

Before his departure, Cecilia Malmström, the EU Trade Commissioner, who will accompany Juncker to the US federal capital, expressed hope for "de-escalation."

But few signals point in this direction.

On the eve of the meeting, the tenant of the White House has once again denounced the attitude of Europe to which he has reserved for several months his sharpest arrows.

"What the European Union is doing is incredible (. ..) They look nice, but they are hard, "he said from Kansas City, Missouri, promising to vigorously defend the interests of America during his meeting with the President of the European Commission.

– "All will be well" –

Tweeting, he once again ironically, as it had done in the G7, about the presumed lack of audacity of the US partners, proposing that everyone give up "all tariffs, non-tariff barriers and subsidies"

"It would really be free trade! I hope they will, we are ready, but they will not! ", He added.

Welcoming, in the willingly provocative tone he likes, that the countries tariffs "all come to Washington to negotiate", Donald Trump insists that his strategy will eventually pay off and that "everything will be fine."

But the approach is far from unanimous in the Republican camp, Traditionally Favorable to Free Trade

"I do not think tariffs are the right answer," Republican House Leader Paul Ryan said Tuesday.

The latter is from Wisconsin The state-owned motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson, has been bluntly warned that the trade war between the United States and its partners will trim its margins in 2018.

Like him, many elected officials "Grand Old Party" worries about the possible impact of the Presidential roisade on the mid-term elections scheduled for November

John Thune, Republican Senator of South Dakota, saw in the announcement of the $ 12 billion plan proof that the aggressive policy of Donald Trump in the name of "America first", caused "many collateral damage".

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