Story highlights
Juncker warns Trump against backing more 'Brexits'
He says he'll back Texas, Ohio independence
The president of the executive arm of the European Union had a message for US President Donald Trump on Thursday: mind your own business.
“The newly elected US president was happy that the Brexit was taking place and has asked other countries to do the same,” European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said. However, he warned, “if he goes on like that I am going to promote the independence of Ohio and Austin, Texas, in the United States of America.”
Juncker, a Luxembourg politician who has been president of the European Commission since 2014, was speaking at the conference of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) in Malta.
In February, Juncker said he was under the impression that the Trump administration did not know the European Union “in detail,” adding, “But in Europe, details matter.”
On Brexit, the UK’s plan to leave the European Union, Juncker said it should not be considered the end of everything but “a new beginning.”
“It’s business as usual in Europe,” he said.
The EPP is a political group that consists of political parties from across Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke at the conference. Her party, the Christian Democratic Union, is part of the EPP.