Officials say that following Trump’s threat to impose auto tariffs on the EU if they didn’t make moves against Iran under the P5+1 nuclear deal, European diplomats contacted the State Department to lay down a hard line that this was the last time that was going to work.



More specifically, diplomats from Germany, France, and Britain warned that the US tactics are “completely unacceptable,” and that their bullying tactics would not help them marshal support against Iran.



The State Department was surprised by the firmness of the language, and passed it on to the White House. It was noted that the US dialed back pressure on the EU in the days that followed.



President Trump clearly wasn’t happy with not getting his way, and was reported complaining about the Europeans at the Davos economic forum, saying they are worse to do business with than the Chinese.



Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also complained about the EU nations not being more loudly in favor of the US assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. European officials, however, believed it was an “aimlessly aggressive” move by Trump, and lacked any concrete objective.



Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz