US politics live: Donald Trump claims the United States has been ‘raped and pillaged’ by its allies

Donald Trump has accused America’s allies of “raping” it in an extraordinary new tirade justifying his more controversial policies.

Welcome, once again, to our live coverage of American politics. The drama trundles on.

Donald Trump has accused America’s allies of “raping and pillaging” it in his latest spray against what he sees as unfair trade policies.

Speaking to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, the US President appeared to be aiming his remarks at the European Union, in particular.

“We are taking in so much money. Now, some people are unhappy because, you know, it has to come from somewhere. Some of it’s going to come from Europe, because not everybody’s going to be doing as much business in Europe, and other places,” he said.

“We have to pay off our debt. We have to start paying it off. We’re very under-leveraged, when you look at the asset value of this country. But we’re over-leveraged in terms of cash flow. We’re gonna have a big cash flow. We’re going to take in.

“For years, we allowed our country to be raped and pillaged. Raped and pillaged. Terrible expressions. And that is what happened.

“Much of it was done by our friends. Look at the European Union. We can’t sell cars to them, but they sell millions of cars to us. They don’t take our agricultural product, but we take theirs. The days are changing. We are not going to let this happen.”

Meanwhile fighter Conor McGregor has claimed the Irish government has “12 days” to present a plan of action on illegal immigration or his “direct plan of action” will commence – with the backing of Donald Trump.

The controversial MMA fighter’s comments came after he visited the White House for St Patrick’s Day, where he met with the President and gave a speech to reporters decrying Ireland’s immigration policies.

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Originally published as US politics live: Donald Trump claims the United States has been ‘raped and pillaged’ by its allies