FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

And the European Commission's tax chief has got the president-elect in his crosshairs after a meeting on Tuesday which began identifying countries which the EU intends to place on a tax blacklist. In an astonishing interview European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici refused to rule out putting the USA on its blacklist. And he insulted Mr Trump calling him a “populist provocateur” before branding the USA a "strange country." The incredibly bold statement comes as The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade negotiations being carried out mostly in secret between the EU and US are likely to hit the buffers.

GETTY Pierre Moscovici did not hold back in his criticism of Donald Trump

GETTY Mr Trump visited the White House as president elect for the first time

Well, he refused to give up any information and that didn’t change the outcome of the election European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici

In an interview with EurActiv.com, Mr Moscovici fumed: "Well, he refused to give up any information and that didn’t change the outcome of the election. "Strange country, where you can avoid any taxation. "I’m not going to say who will be on the blacklist, because we are only just starting the process.

GETTY John Kerry was a regular visitor to the EU but it's unclear if Mr Trump will be

"I’ve already said that the purpose of the list is that no one is on it, so that standards are implemented before it comes to that. "But every country, potentially, has to fulfil the criteria. "We didn’t start with a pre-list of member states, we started with the criteria." Oddly Mr Moscovici didn't appear to talk about another country which is being accused of tax corruption on a grand scale.

GETTY Jean Claude Juncker with Francois Hollande is facing major tax issues in his own country

Indeed there didn't appear to be any criticism of President of the European Commission Jean Claude Junker, the Luxembourgish politician whose own country has been embroiled in a multi billion pound tax avoidance scandal that is being played out in the criminal courts. When asked about the Luxleaks scandal instead he seemed to play down the country's drama. He added: "Don’t try to provoke that! "If we are idealistic, which I like to think I am, we have to imagine a world where those scandals aren’t possible, because the causes of those scandals disappear. "Those cases create things like populism. "Scandals are never an asset for the public conscious. "For those that try to push forward ambitious proposals, the momentum they create is admittedly helpful, but I would prefer the support of NGOs and stakeholders any day." The news comes after the Ecofin Council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday of this week, the day of the US election.

Anti-Trump protests erupt worldwide Wed, November 30, 2016 Trump win sparks riots across US as crowds burn American flag and chant 'Not our president' Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 31 Supporters of the