The Czech opposition party ANO of former Prime Minister Andrej Babis continues to support US President Donald Trump and is pro-American, despite criticism from Babis over the Trump administration’s tariff measures, the party’s deputy leader Karel Havlicek told Seznam Zpravy yesterday.
In a Monday interview with Denik, Babis sharply rejected Trump’s steps. “I don’t know what Trump is up to, but what he’s doing is completely insane and it’s wrong,” said Babis. “If he’s now said that he didn’t expect the stock market to react the way it did, I’m concerned about whether he understands it at all.” Both before and since the US presidential elections, ANO representatives have expressed strong support for Trump, often wearing his distinctive red hats.
The United States imposed a baseline 10% tariff on all imports on 5 April. From today, the country will impose higher tariffs on imports from selected countries, including a 20% charge on imports from the European Union.
Babis said in the interview that this would fundamentally damage the US economy. “I really don’t understand it because it doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said.
Havlicek yesterday dismissed the suggestion that ANO was turning away from Trump. “The overwhelming majority of the ANO movement is convinced that Donald Trump was a significantly better choice than the loony leftist Democrats,” he said.
Among other things, Trump has “a rational view of climate change that would also benefit the European Union”, Havlicek added.
He agreed that ANO does not agree with the tariffs, “But just because you support someone doesn’t mean you agree with them 100%. The tariffs are just not right,” he said.
However, ANO remains a pro-American party, he said. “It shocks me that just because someone disagrees with Trump, they are pulling away from the USA,” he added.
