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Donald Trump's likely EU ambassador Ted Malloch wants to tame the bloc 'like he brought down Soviet Union'

'Maybe there's another union that needs a little taming'

Samuel Osborne
Friday 27 January 2017 13:31 GMT
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Donald Trump's potential new ambassador to the EU jokes about breaking it up

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Donald Trump's likely pick for ambassador to the European Union has suggested he wants to bring down the bloc.

On BBC One's This Week, Ted Malloch was asked why he wanted to be US ambassador to the EU considering he is clearly not a fan of Brussels.

Mr Malloch replied: "I had in a previous career a diplomatic post where I helped bring down the Soviet Union. So maybe there's another union that needs a little taming."

The businessman and strident Brexiteer also referred to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker as a "very adequate mayor of some city in Luxembourg."

Mr Juncker was prime minister of Luxembourg between 1995 and 2013.

The potential ambassador also said Mr Trump dislikes the idea of EU integration.

"He doesn't like an organisation that is supranational, that is unelected, where the bureaucrats run amok, and is not frankly a proper democracy," he said.

On Wednesday, Mr Malloch said he believes the euro could soon collapse.

On Friday, Theresa May became the first foreign leader to visit the US president at the White House.

Ms May hopes the meeting will renew the special relationship between Britain and America.

Top of the agenda for Ms May will be preparations for a free trade deal between the UK and US after Britain has withdrawn from the EU.

But the pair will also discuss security challenges including Syria, Russia and the threat from Islamist terror.

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