this is the european policy. i have a certain degree of commitment to speak to that. -- where weoncern have different policies with european way has always been the case with iran. that will continue. it's important that iranian citizens hear this from europe. >> thank you for that. , we have heard different statements and t different times from the ministration, most recently signaling the u.s. actions against russia would remain in place. on the other hand, there seems to be a desire to significantly improve the relationship with russia. to the extent you can, how did this come up in your conversations and where do you see potential commonalities and differences on the issue of russia and ukraine? weirdgherini: it's quite that's it i can just have a that -- rather than on the eutioned positions on russia, i'm being questioned about the u.s. position. >> can you please tell us what the u.s. position is? [laughter] i'm not sure it's it is ante for me -- interesting experience. it's also the first time that the ma

the problem of the european union. the problem of the european union.he future of the european union is not so much linked to brexit negotiations, the problem of the future of the european union is linked to the courage and willingness of the european leaders for the moment to go forward, like i described in the book, with the unity and integration of the european union, a defence community and economic governance for the 5ingle and economic governance for the single currency, and extort border and coastguard so the future of the european union in depends on that. not so much on brexit. you've been writing books about the need for a federal europe for a long time. europa united states of europe in 2006. as prime minister. you wrote another book in 2009 called how europe can save the world emerging from cri5i5. you have written the5e book5, from cri5i5. you have written the5e books, which now looked like mu5eum pieces, the world has moved on, europe has moved on. it's no more about union and federation. it's the opposite that is happening, you are laughi

of the european union.much alone. i think that we are for the moment in an existential moment for the european union, and i hope, my response to this is that only european unity can be the answer. i am mindful you havejust written this book... that is my book about it. europe's last chance: why the european states... its subtitle, why the european states must form a more perfect union. ironically, you've taken a phrase from the american constitution. yes, exactly. i think it's gonna be difficult right now to persuade europeans that they should regard as a model the federal united states of america, but that's obviously... you wrote this before donald trump arrived in the white house. it's not about trump. that's about donald trump now. you're making it trump is the same as the american institutions. what i'm seeing is america, for example, after the financial crisis was capable to react immediately to that financial crisis. they did a cleaning up of their banks, they detailed an investment programme, they d

last summer to work very seriously on strengthening the european defense, within the european union, and to me it was very strange because i spent months from july to october, november even, reassuring washington and the other side of brussels, which means nato hawks, this was not to undermine nato and not in competition with nato and now to strengthen nato, and now i'm explaining it's good, nato and this is the european way. when i put this in the transactional box because you know that's -- article 5 was invoked only once and that was after 9/11 and europeans have carried the burden for our common commitments to security in the world. through nato, but also through other means. the european union is a security provider and also a hard power, even if this is not perceived to much here. we have 16 military missions in the world. ... >> >> the political challenges and then the elections this year with germany and so on. from that standpoint how serious do you think the stanches are and more importantly, what could be the contribution be? >> click at worst and best case scenario. >> i

so the european position is clear. i am confident it will continue because allin unity have that over the years that on europeans to divide themselves on this and i think this will continue to be the case, it can also have a lot for the u.s. i can say i was receiving reassuring messages but i don't know if there would be divisions in the u.s. on this. host: i'm going to ask one or two more questions and go to the audience. you have said the eu is ready for a transactional way of working the united states. guess, at the atlantic council the notion of a transactional relationship of the transatlantic partners would seem a step backwards. so, would you think this is sufficient and what do you mean when you say transactional way? guest: i have a feeling this is a moment in history where we have to -- where we're called to avoid giving it for granted, that people understand the add ed value of our friendship, which is said, i agree. i preferred to have the partnership, friendship based on this automatic with hat in the last

i met with the representatives of the european union. and this morning, a very constructive and productive conversation with president tusk and it is an honor to be here. this afternoon, i will meet with president yunker of the european commission and before taking meetings at nato and returning to washington, d.c. tusk saidas president i was pleased to address the security council in munich to theess the security -- strategic alliance of the united states -- that we entered. the president did ask me to come here to brussels and to the home of the european union, and deliver an additional message. and so today it is my privilege on behalf of president trump to express the strong commitment of to united states to continue cooperate and partner with the european union. whatever our differences, our two continents share the same heritage, the same values and the same purpose. to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. and to those objectives we will remain committed. and this has been the european union

president, for the european union. you can take one decision and we have president trump, we have a populus nationalist view, we have the radical islamists in the south and a bunch of people who want to destroy the european union. we can do one thing. that is unit, fight back with the european union and i hope it will not only be the better and, i support the letter of i hope all european leaders have to courage to stand up and fight back this nationalists and populist who want to destroy us. [applause] >> thank you. mr. zimmer now. >> thank you very much. i am this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time, we discuss the policies of the united states and more particularly mr. trump. thank you for having established the link to the time when mr. trump signed his decree to stop the travel of muslim citizens from the 7th of january and it wasn't a matter of chance. it was quite deliberate because of the same day he talked about his aunts dying in the concentration cam and said he knew what it was like when peo

europe's last chance: why the european states, its subtitle, why the european states must form a europeanon. ironically, you've taken a phrase from the american constitution. yes, exactly. i think it's gonna be difficult right now to persuade europeans that they should regard as a model the federal united states of america, but that's obviously... it's about donald trump now. you're making it as trump is the same as the american institutions. what i have seen is america after the financial crisis was capable to react immediately to the financial crisis. the cleaning up of the banks, they did an investment programme, they did quantitative easing. well, if i look to europe, we are not a union, in fact. what we are is in fact a loose confederation of nationstates still based on unanimity rule, and we are always acting too little too late, for example, in the financial crisis, in migration... so this book i have to tell you is even more eurosceptic than all the eurosceptic books that have been published in the united kingdom in the last... you think the formulation of the eu simply doesn't wo

this is the european way. we work together with the countries experience crisis and their neighbors. a travel ban can maybe, maybe, give a temporary illusion of addressing the issue, but it can only create more frustration and anger. we need cooperation. not closure. we need to engage. we need to build come ground, not a ban. the iu will partner and strong point of reference for all countries in the region, regardless of the religion of those regions. they can count on it us. always those in world that believe in international cooperation, human rights and rule of law. also why the european union is the biggs donor in the -- biggest donor of the world to syrian people. with more than 9 billion euros invested since the start of the tighting in syria and the european union and the u.s. have worked closely together, including the u.n. submit on refugees in new york because a global issue requires a global work. both commitments were made to protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants and count hate spee

yalman: european -- mark: european banks have been lobbying against those positions and it looks likemight be , given that the trump administration seems to feel that u.s. relators shouldn't be court mating across international lines that way, that could be one place where the europeans could change it. but if you see credit this week with 13 million euros starting today, that's one of the key things that europe can do. get its own act together, sort out the balance sheet, look at those nonperforming loans that are a drag on the industry, basically become more like their u.s. counterparts in terms of accepting regulation as a new thing. they need stronger balances. >> you are worried about the european banking industry. there are signs that some are retrenching. that's not a good thing, is it? yalman: you can quickly -- mark: you can quickly become irrelevant. pakistan, europe, deutsche bank will be universal. rbs has disappeared from the scene. credit suisse is pulling back. activities,rtain you got to be in the game and offering that capital, otherwise you don't get the rest of that

written's europeans ability. -- threatens european stability. >> there's more dangerous than in the treaty of rome 60 years ago. let me focus on the threat related to the geopolitical situation in the world and around europe. let's call it assertive china, especially under sees. the aggressive policy towards the ukraine and its neighbors with terror and anarchy in the middle east and in africa. with radical islam playing a major role. in the new american administration. they'll all make our future highly unpredictable. brent: highly unpredictable. let's go to our correspondent in brussels. these are very strong words coming from mr. task. -- mr. tusk. have the worries of the u.s. as a threat echoed elsewhere? >> we can't stress enough that these remarks are really unprecedented. what is happening is nothing less than the european union calling the united states, which was a long partner and close friend and suddenly turns into a potential enemy. that is whathis letter does that donald tusk wrote. he does so by naming russia, radical islam, china, and the united states in the same sentence.

i'm honored to represent the european union for security affairs and vice president of the european commission federica mgherini. we had a fascinating last month in davus that we are facing a particularly important time and thus very interesting to hear your comments and enter in discussion with you. i'm also very pleased to welcome embassador christian silverberg who will introduce our next guest. former u.s. embassador you should george w. bush, she brings special insight to the important dialogue. without further due, the floor is yours. >> it's a great honor to introduce federica. as fred mentioned ms. megherini is visiting and would be challenging for even for the most transparency atlanticist. but i believe that our shared interest and values will prove durable particularly if we can demonstrate to skeptical voters on both sides of the atlantic that we can concretely address challenges together. the threat of terrorism, the catastrophe in syria, the risks that iran will pursue, a patient pathway to a nuclear weapon. ms. megherini addresses in her role in the european union. fred and high

so we need to find a european solution again on this as well.ntroversial debates about this in a society and in an upcoming campaign, and because this is not an average issue, that is a fundamental question of the future of society and of europe. but by the way... you can see... if i may say so, is that why you are pandering to the far right for taking on, for example, the issue of the burqa in germany and describing yourself as burqa—phobic? is that your effort to win far right votes? when i grew up, fighting for the rights of women was a liberal thing, a leftish thing. i wonder now that if you fight for the rights of women that they are able to show their faces, it's a very reactionary conservative religious approach that women are forced... wait a minute, what about the women who want to wear the burqa? crosstalk no stephen, sorry, i heard that all the time. since when is fighting for women and the rights of women and the equality of men and women, since when is that a very right wing approach? that's new to me. it used to be a leftish approa

she is a member of the european parliament. she is accused of hiring a parliamentary assistant with european funds. she allegedly hired an assistant who actually was not working for the european parliament but working for the national here in france. the european parliament is asking her to reimburse the 300,000 euros that they gave her to hire her assistant and she says she is not going to do it because she is being persecuted. genie: this assistance in question has been questioned by the european anti-fraud office. >> they got their hands on the billing, sof that according to her contract, she has to live and work in brussels but investigators found that she had no apartment lease to her name. she had a very interesting response. she said she was essentially living with friends, that they were putting her up and she was sleeping on a pullout bed. she was also asked why she rarely showed up on parliamentary law -- parliamentary logs. she apparently hadn't come that much. she had an interesting response. she said she carpooled

informalo last week's european council, britain is leaving the european union, but we're not leaving europe a global britain that stands tall will remain a britain that stands a good ally. we show how britain will continue to play a leading role long after we have left you -- the e.u. through the new an equal partnership we want to build with the e.u. first on migration. the discussion focused on particular in the routes from libya across the central mediterranean. we need a compounds of and coordinated approach. that is what this council agreed. this includes working hard in support of an inclusive clinical settlement to stabilize libya, which will counterterrorism and slow immigration flows. build the capacity of the libyans to return migrants to their own shores, treat them with dignity, and help them return home. libya,s looking beyond helping create more opportunities in migrants' home countries. and it means that are distinguish between economic migrants and refugees. simply returning those who have no right to remain. deterrentnding a message to those thinking about making the

the growing conflict that exist between the european parliament and many of the european nation statets of problems to overcome. i will tell you why i do not think it will break up. i don‘t think it will break up because it has been the most single ambition of the members of the european union for the last 50 years to reach a position where there was unity in europe. and if you look historically at why that happens, you understand the depth of how people feel about it. at the end of the second world war, all of europe was bankrupt. they looked around the world and they saw the power of the united states and they foresaw the wisest among them, the growing power of asia and in particular, china, and they realise that unless they united, they would become political pygmies ina united, they would become political pygmies in a world of giants. and that was the impetus behind the original seeds of what we now call the european union. successive generations have grown up with that on the continent, it is deeply imbued in their instincts in the continent in a way it never has been in the unit

a bad deal from the europeans.he one place he has not had a bad deal apart from today and in these reports about the treaty is russia. mystifyings relationship he has with president putin? >> i wrote a column recently where i tracked the dirty tricks i saw in an election that i covered for "newsweek" in 2012 in georgia. oddly, they were exactly the same tricks that were used by trump in winning power. in both those elections, a pro-putin, pro-kremlin, pro russian candidate won and beat the favorite candidate. and the list of things that were so similar were just uncanny. it was coming out of nowhere leading the opposition to victory with dodgy finances that did not get revealed except with some weird connections to russia. theirrst point was country first, in that case, georgia first. if you put georgia first, presumably, you are doing it to be anti-russia since russia had invaded georgia four years before the election. and yet you had a candidate who openly said, i will not criticize putin. and another on similari

this is something the european order of peace rex. that is must be why we are so strict in enforcing that. it is no longer the tenants that bind us. -- tenets that bind us. with our world order upset, it is most important to strengthen the flank. we are doing this from the bottom. the united states is and poland is. we did invoke article five where we are ensuring each other of a standby agreement in the case of conflict. we are in a major mission in and this basically started after 9/11. germany is continuing to work together with nato here. with 20 other nations in the north of afghanistan. i had the opportunity to talk to the afghan president. a political solution also is absolutely necessary in order to ensure a peaceful future for afghanistan. when we speak of nato these days, we also always talk about the financial contribution each and everybody puts on the table. germany and all other member states of nato committed itself to reach the 2% goal. just ask the defense minister has already insured you, we will do everything we can

between nato and the european union. we have brought that to a new level implementing many different measures and we have signed a joint declaration usk inn president t warsaw and we are following up on implementing that. we are working closer on cyber and addressing how to build the capacity in our neighborhood and how to stabilize our neighborhood as we work together with the european union. cooperation is more important now because we live in times of turmoil and instability and we need a strong cooperation between nato and the european union and we welcome the very strong u.s. support for that approach. >> next question, ken thomas from the associated press. >> thank you, mr. vice president. i wanted to talk about the dismissal of general flynn recently. did you feel like you were misled by members of the trump administration or were you frustrated that you were left out of the loop on this situation? what assurances have you received from the president that something like this will not happen again? secretary-genera

both pro-european. tony: both pro-european, but they have to spell that out in much bigger terms.sknow martin schulz pro-europe, but he has not actually spelled it out for germany, what it means, nor has macron. he has to unveil his program and say what europe means to an electorate that is basically , just like it was in britain. they think that brussels is an elite that is controlling their frex, and the appeal of a is of france leaving the eu there. it's not a ghost phenomenon. it is present. people feel that. to negotiatewants europe on a different contract and ask the people of europe in different countries to take their opinion and then renegotiate europe and to give it a new direction. that is what he said, at least in some of the meetings i attended, and that is also the principle he is applying for his own program. he is sending out all his little helpers to go to the different houses, to the people, asking them what they want, where their necessities are, why they feel excluded, and from there, he writes hisis program. they are going to be very curious what is the progra

president, for the european union. you can take one decision and we have president trump, we have a populus nationalist view, we have the radical islamists in the south and a bunch of people who want to destroy the european union. we can do one thing. that is unit, fight back with the european union and i hope it will not only be the better and, i support the letter of i hope all european leaders have to courage to stand up and fight back this nationalists and populist who want to destroy us. [applause] >> thank you. mr. zimmer now. >> thank you very much. i am this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time, we discuss the policies of the united states and more particularly mr. trump. thank you for having established the link to the time when mr. trump signed his decree to stop the travel of muslim citizens from the 7th of january and it wasn't a matter of chance. it was quite deliberate because of the same day he insulted -- talked about his aunts dying in the concentration cam and said he knew what it was l

there isa to leave the european union. there is a bit ofa to leave the european union. because next week is a bit of a gap because next week is half term if you lie for mps here. after that, it will go to the house of lords whether it will go through a similar process of scrutiny, where lords and peers will have a chance to put down amendments if they choose to get into the details of the bill. the fact that theresa may seems to have got this through the house of commons unamended, many people think that the house of lords will then not have the license to make changes and fiddle around with the bill. that means it will have got through parliament unscathed. we know that theresa may wants to trickle trigger article 50 before the end of march. if things continue as they look like they are going to do tonight, she will be able to do that within her timetable. we are looking at the chamber, filling up again. this rather archaic system, maybe you could talk us through that, where mps file into different lobbies, it is different to other parliaments around the world were the

this is the european open.tors selloff european futures and seek the safety of the yen and the dollar. its get the business flash. for that, we go to sophie. bp has reported fourth-quarter earnings that mists estimates. profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes. more than doubled from a year earlier to $400 million but fell short of the 6500 -- expected by analysts. that is after higher oil prices failed to compensate for lower refining. statoil has reported a loss in the fourth quarter after deepening write-downs on u.s. shale assets. $40ust did net loss was million. that missed the forecast of a $618 million profit. statoil has slashed spending and cut costs, which has led to the deepest market downturn in a generation. kkr has agreed to combine its hedge fund unit with pacific alternative asset managing to create one of the world's largest investors in hedge funds. intoill have a 40% stake holdings, which will manage about $34 billion. the deal, expected to be completed in the second quarter,

the european values have to prevail. and this is what i believe will happen. >> what would you tell investors -- when do you get political security back in your country? >> well, the investors are not threatened. the economic situation is still very good. i think it will stay good. no problem for investors. this is a matter of principle for the population. >>> we are not in a situation where investors are threatened about europe currently, but we all remember when afraid of breg up of the eurozone, this scenario could be back soon. there are people betting on a breakup of the eurozone again, saying government bonds from germany are an attractive asset to have. another all-star european arriving here is jean-claude juncker, we all know him. we had to ask him what he makes of trump and this summit, what he thinks is going to get resolved today. take a listen here. >> no, i don't feel threatened, but i think there is room for explanations. sometimes you get the impression that the new administration does not know the europe

european union.here is concern. if you ask a different people about donald trump, of course the answer is going to be different. if you ask marine le pen's supporters, then you have a very different answer. the answer is the one i just gave you. marine le pen is very much aligned on donald trump's ideology. marine le pen is very supportive of -- maybe not very supportive, but she has nothing to say against the regime of vladimir putin. she considered that crimea was not invaded -- it was the people of crimea who wanted to be russian. because they feel rushing, that is what she said recently on an interview on cnn. marine le pen sees the notion of "america first" as basically the awakening of the people, the awakening of the nation against the elite, against international institutions. marine le pen represents right now, 20% of the french voters. host: clearly the same is true with other populist movements. there are plenty of people in britain who supported brexit for example, who also see this popul

into european credit?a u.s. investor, how are you seeing this fit together? guest: for u.s. investors, they tend to look at the absolute yield and they look at germany and they say that is low yield compared to two treasuries so why should i bother to do that. i do think on a hedge raises it is becoming more interesting. you take out the currency risk. some investors are starting to look at longer data bonds in europe. we have a slow growth economy and relatively low inflation and a -- and an accommodative central-bank where as in the u.s. we are heading the other way. matt: are there any benefits from trumps policies for european exporters. the wolfgang schauble conversation as side, do we european economies get new buyers here? guest: with the trump policies with how theys work out, it is difficult to say. we have to focus on europe and see how donald trump impacts that. guy: thank you for spending so much time with us. up next, we will talk about the metals market. this is bloomberg. ♪ guy: welcome back

remains the best friend of the european union? markus: absolutely, there is some kind of dichotomy in u.s. policy, currently. the overarching concern in europe is that the u.s. administration aims at replacing a multilateral approach to the european union or towards nato by some kind of special relationships, not only to london but two other selected countries in europe. therefore i think the overarching goal of angela merkel is to keep the europeans together as much as possible. brent: what about nato? did you get the sense that the vice president sees it moving forward as an anti-islamist force? markus: not really. i think it has been on the agenda to a certain degree. but there hasn't been so much progress so far. they could -- the key question is the 2% debate about additional defense spending. we have to admit that the trump administration has accomplished something. the debate isn't over about unfair burden sharing among the united states and european allies and the europeans did not take any concrete measures in the last de

future and european values. sorry. [laughter] >> we are backing you. >> when you talk war, you get more sensationalism on the panel. >> yes. this destabilization is a disaster. we received information that russian backed militants 20 minutes ago hit a building. -- lots ofivilians civilians. 20 minutes ago. what are they looking for on ukrainian soil? why do they open artillery fire against my civilians? what do they want to deliver? you would be shocked. the reason is only one. they want to have a ukraine in the russian empire. we will never ever accept that. do you know why? because we believe not only in the european union, but also european unity and solidarity. confident that european voters -- it made european voters much more responsible in their choice. electionafraid of any in the european union. to you know why? because i believe in the european union. that is the case. >> i want to make a brief comment. >> one more thing. holofernes -- 31st of december, was on the front line of troops with my marines.

that vote is coming up european union.vote is coming up in the next few minutes and coming up here on bbc news as well. is hello and welcome to 100 days, i'm katty kay in washington. christian fraser's in london where parliament is about to vote to start britain's departure from the eu. the bill is just 133 words long, katty, but of huge importance. it will formally hand power to the prime minister to begin the brexit process. we're watching the uk parliament. anjust in all an just in all the vote. —— for the vote. we're expecting three votes shortly. we'll explain why they‘ re so important. when it comes to brexit the uk has a big supporter in donald trump. but not all the politicians are content to roll out the red carpet. just what more does the president, trump, have to do before the prime minister will listen. he can lead a protest. i'm leading a country.

we have made it as a european union asa we have made it as a european union as a whole.of movement throughout europe. —— the whole schengen treaty. 0nly europe. —— the whole schengen treaty. only if we are willing to secure oui’ treaty. only if we are willing to secure our borders. we were not able to protect our borders, the mediterranean sea. that is what the last summit was about. we had to regain control and we have regained a lot of control already, but not yet everything that needs to beat at. that is actually a debate that is to be done. i think is something like that is happening, like we have seen like that is happening, like we have seenin like that is happening, like we have seen in the past two years, with the migrants coming into europe, then it is quite normal that you have eight controversial debate in society and in the party. and i do see a controversial debate in the party if you do at the right way, and with good arguments, and that is what we did in the christian democratic party in germany. the reality is that we are just two months on from a terribl

union, we can control our borders, the european court of justice can control our borders, the europeans not going to be ruling us, it is going to be great. i have never heard that fit so well. i think he is wrong that better days are ahead because i voted remain and i thought it was in the national interest to stay in the european union but i am delighted he is good to get a chance to prove me wrong because the british public took a view, parliament is that they rightly has allowed the government to trigger article 50 and he has got to trigger article 50 and he has got to see this, be optimistic and dynamic stock he must of negotiations will be tough. the eu will not be as compliant as some people are thinking but it might be. not least because a fantastic deal where we can opt into things we like but not things we don't like would incentivise other nation states to leave the european union. this is going to be fraught with difficulties and negotiation terms. but the british people have spoken. david davies is on the stump. i had forgotten the catchphrase for that tony blair campaign.

paul ivan is an analyst at the european policy centre a think—tank in brussels.hey going to fall out? paul, are they going to fall ounm is looking seriously politically for the moment. it was quite surprising to see such a strong language, i saw the letter of president tusk and it isa sign the letter of president tusk and it is a sign that things are pretty bad if we got to this point. from a trade point of view, i think we don't have yet the sort of decision that would seriously affect the trade relations, but the messages certainly don't look good at the moment. the american administration does have a point, doesn't it? germany has done very well by being the strong unit surrounded by weak economies and making the most of the wea k economies and making the most of the weak euro, over the decades really? well, we all know that actually germany doesn't really like the current policies of the ecb and has opposed the policies for a while. the ecb is an independent body. it is also i would say, this way of looking at the individual member states and let's sacred siz

clearly here in the red or orange europeans are disapproving of the european union's handling of the crisis. you see greece leading the way here with almost everyone there. sweden, italy, spain, the netherlands. it drops down a little bit toward the bottom of this chart. we'll leave it on the screen. guest: further away from the mediterranean. what is really strike interesting that is as you said just how strong the feelings are right across europe. this is something that the european union has not managed to handle well. i think that is absolutely accurate. host: where is the policy headed if anywhere? guest: there is not an answer at the moment. there is an awkward deal with turkey which has helped bring down some of the numbers. there isn't agreement on whether -- how many refugees should come in. whether they should be shared out among countries. something countries really have not liked. whether countries will set their number of refugees they take individually. there is a lot of dispute going on. meanwhile, refugees keep arriving on the southern borders of europe. host: arizona

a bad deal from the europeans. but the one place he doesn't seem to have had a bad deal, apart from today in these reportings of what he might have said about the start treaty is russia. what is it, explain this this mystifying relationship he has with president putin. >> i wrote a colume recently, a guess a couple of months ago where i tracked the dirty tricks that i saw in an election that i covered for news week in 2012, which was in tiblisi george ga. and oddly, eerily, they were exactly the same tricks that were used by trump in also winning power. and in both those elections, a proputin, procreme lynn, prorussian candidate won. and beat the favorite candidate. and the list of things that was so similar were just uncanny it was an oligarch coming out of nowhere. leading the opposition to victory with dodgy finances that didn't get revealed except some weird connections to russia. their first plank was, you know, their country first, as it were. in that case georgia first. well, if you put georgia first in that

a lot of europeans -- european governments look at the trump white house and think this is a rogue president. they are dealing with something completely that they had never predicted and that they don't quite know how to address. >> gidian rose, when you look at that time, though, it's fair to point out that he has reversed himself on lots of these issues, he has now essentially continued obama foreign policy in many of these areas, and trump cleanup is pretty impressive by which i mean, you know, the secretary of state, secretary of defense, now national security adviser. isn't it worth giving him some credit for the fact that, you know, many administrations have shaky starts and the team, the foreign policy team is a very serious one? >> this is actually i think tom's framework is very good and i agree with what you just said. but if you drill down a little bit into that trump cleanup when it essentially is is adult professionals everywhere else in washington and in the administration versus the white house. and so the dilemma is several of those trump administrations that tom was talking

i think europeans have no interest at all to give the signal to now full members of the european unions still a balance and benefit exceeding the cost. that sucks the life out of the show. let's go to rico hizon. the chinese economy comes back from holiday. they don't like. everyone he was caught offguard by the latest move by the central bank. chinese and regional equities are slumping to their steepest losses in two weeks. and at this point there is still no official word from the people's bank official word from the people's bank of china why there is no movement. it basically reinforces the view that chinese authorities are intent on forcing that handling companies to deleverage. it appears to be intent on controlling a real estate bubble. it could try to arrest the yuan's depreciation against the us dollar. there have been allowances for policy makers to have more room to look at debt this year. analysts think this will have to be gradual. they believe the central bank will be in no hurry to raise the policy standing rate for now. aaron, have a good weekend. do you snapchat? i don

union. 75% of my constituents voted to remain in the european union. westminster leader rejected warnings of dire consequences for northern ireland of brexit. the fact is that when we remained in sterling and the irish republicjoined the euro along with other european partner states, we were told this would be massively detrimental, this would cause all sorts of problems on the island of ireland, this would lead to destruction, economic and political. none of that happened. people adapted. nigel dodds. well, that second and final day of debate was wrapped up with the shadow minister for exiting the eu confirming labour would back the bill before the house triggering the start of brexit. but she issued a warning to the prime minister. this must be a deal worthy of the consent of this house. if she and her negotiators fail to achieve a deal worthy of our country, they will not achieve our consent. the prime minister must deliver the deal she claims that she can. this is a straightforward bill. it delivers on the promise made to the people of the united k

some reports that a lot of the europeans were a bit up in arms in how he didn't seem to include the europeaneir speeches. that they ignored the european union. is that your perception as well? >> we are talking bute u.s. president who basically approved of brexit. so a lot of questions today. jean-claude has already said he questions that push for basically nato questions to make the proper payments to pay up in terms of their commitment to the alliance and we've heard from donald tusk saying u.s. president donald trump is the single existential threat from europe. >> thank you so much for that. >>> meantime, pushing on. in germany a new poll has put the democrats ahead of merkel for the first time since 2006. the christian democrats must be shivering. this is very concerning to them because they've taken the lead for ages. >> that's the first time since 2006 that the social democrats have a better standing in the polls than the cdu. and they are not asking the question whether you want to have that correlation or that correlation. because running for the social d democrats and responsible f

i asked him if he agreed with european council president donald tusk that the european project is nowworld war ii, the united states were like parents, some kind of, for europe and the european, but that might change. i think it shows we have to grow up. we have to defend ourselves. get more independent. talk about a defence union regarding foreign security policy. it might be a chance to unite europe. donald trump talks about fairness. he doesn't like one—sided relationships, and germany has a huge surplus with the united states. are you worried he's going to come after you? we have to talk about it. be very frank. when it comes to our surplus, we need to be frank. i want to be clear to our american partners, it is different if you have a deficit with china, state interventions in the market, low wages, but with the european union, very high wages, very high—tech, and in europe it's the market that decides, the consumer decides. the head of the trade counsel in the us accused germany of currency manipulation. he believes that germany is profiting from a grossly undervalued euro. we f