Trump shrugs off EU anger over coronavirus travel ban
“We get along well with the European leaders, but we had to make a decision and I didn’t want to take time, and it takes a long time to make the individual calls,” he said in the Oval Office, alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, before adding that he had spoken to some EU leaders before the announcement.
“The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” EU Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus.”
“The U.K. basically has got the border, strong borders and they’re doing a very good, job, they don’t have much infection and hopefully they’ll keep it that way,” he said. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a close ally of Trump, who has in turn supported Johson’s push to take Britain out of the European Union.
There were indications that some European countries were following Trump’s lead. Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis said people from 13 risk countries that include E.U. countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Austria and Germany as well Britain will not be allowed to enter the country.
