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.

The President-elect has proudly reeled off a list of key allies he has held talks with since his shock election victory last week, including Britain and Russia. But he conspicuously failed to mention a single EU state in his roll call of global players, further indicating that relations with the European Union will be low down on the new US administration's list of priorities.

GETTY New US President-elect Donald Trump has delivered a big snub to the EU

Mr Trump was a frequent critic of the beleaguered bloc during his campaign to become the leader of the Western world, and has described his shock White House victory as "Brexit plus, plus, plus". And responding to media reports criticising his contact with global leaders today, the billionaire tycoon hit back: "I have received and taken calls from many foreign leaders…Russia, UK, China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and more. I am always available to them."

AFP Outgoing president Barack Obama has been a huge supporter of the Brussels project

GETTY But Mr Trump has indicated he will prioritise ties with Britain and Russia instead

His pointed snub to EU member states will send further shivers down the collective spine of Europe's elite, which is scrambling to formulate an effective response to the populist uprising taking place across the globe. In particular it represents the huge reversal of fortunes facing Germany, coming just days after outgoing President Barack Obama praised Chancellor Angela Merkel as his "closest ally". And it reaffirms that Britain will be a key ally to the self-avowed anglophile's new administration, coming a week after eyebrows were raised when he placed Theresa May 10th on his initial ring-round of international leaders. Stunned European Union chiefs have been thrown into panic mode since Mr Trump's election to the globe's most powerful post, issuing a series of garbled and contradictory statements as they watch the cosy EU-US relations built up under Mr Obama crumble before their eyes. The outgoing President has been one of the EU's staunchest supporters and infamously backed Brussels over Britain during the referendum campaign, warning the UK it would be "back of the queue" for a trade deal if it voted to quit.

In contrast Mr Trump has been scathing of Europe, lambasting its NATO members for failing to pull their weight in the military alliance and describing Angela Merkel's disastrous open door asylum policy as "insane". And he has signalled a return to warmer relations between Washington and Russia, threatening the effectiveness of EU sanctions against Moscow imposed over Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea. Immediately after the Republican's election a number of European nations, including Germany and France, issued congratulatory messages peppered with thinly veiled insults in an unprecedented diplomatic gaffe. Mrs Merkel even suggested that future relations between Germany and the US would be dependent on Mr Trump accepting her terms, which included toning down his rhetoric surrounding migration.

President-Elect Donald Trump in pictures Tue, December 13, 2016 Donald John Trump is an American businessman and politician who is President-elect of the United States as well as chairman and president of The Trump Organization Play slideshow 1 of 64