Olaf Scholz says EU can act 'in an hour' if Donald Trump imposes tariffs on bloc

euronews (in English)

Speaking in the first TV debate before snap elections later in the month, Scholz said his strategy for dealing with Trump is "clear words and friendly conversations."

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00:00German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said the European Union can act in an hour if US President

00:07Donald Trump slaps tariffs on the bloc.

00:10Speaking in the first TV debate before snap elections later in the month, Scholz said

00:15his strategy for dealing with Trump is clear words and friendly conversations.

00:20He pointed to his public statements about respecting borders after Trump said he wouldn't

00:24rule out the use of military force to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.

00:30He also stressed the importance of European unity and said he and other countries are

00:34working on proposals to increase NATO's presence in Greenland.

00:38Trump pitched the idea of taking control of Greenland on the campaign trail last year,

00:43saying it was important for America's national security.

00:46He said he could impose financial penalties or even use the military to force Denmark

00:51to cede the island to the United States.

00:55Scholz also described Trump's suggestion that the US could take ownership of Gaza, relocate

01:00its population and redevelop it as a scandal.

01:03Scholz's main challenger, the Christian Democratic Union's Friedrich Merz, also voiced unease

01:08about the proposal but suggested there's a lot of rhetoric coming from Washington.

01:13Merz said the new US president is predictably unpredictable.

01:17Merz, who was the frontrunner in the 23rd February snap elections, also discussed top

01:22domestic issues with Scholz such as Germany's struggling economy and migration.

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