Trump on EU overregulation: I had a big project, Ireland approval 1 week but EU will take 5-6 years

Davos Framework

Trump’s Davos appearance:

Remote via video
World Economic Forum audience
3,000 participants
Third day of presidency
Taking live questions
Future in-person invitation

The Davos framework:

Annual elite gathering
Global business leaders
European dominance in organization
Often liberal/left economic framework
Tension with Trump agenda

Steve Schwarzman

Trump greeting Steve Schwarzman (Blackstone):

Trump friend
Long-standing relationship
Investment leader
Inspirational career
Trump praise

“Well, thank you very much, and congratulations, Steve, your friend of mine, but on a great career you have had an amazing career and continues.”

EU Business Complaints

“A lot of the European business people have expressed enormous frustration with the regulatory regime in the EU, and they attribute slower growth rates here because of the numerous factors, but especially because of regulations.”

The European business perspective:

Regulatory regime frustrating
Slower growth rates
Multiple factors
Regulations particularly problematic
Competitive disadvantage

European GDP growth:

U.S. outpacing EU significantly
EU ~1% annual growth
U.S. ~2-3% annual growth
Regulatory burden as factor
Trump administration recognized

Trump’s Approach

“And you’ve taken a completely different approach in this area. If you could explain the theory of what you’re doing, how you’re going to do it, and what you expect the outcome to be.”

Question to Trump on his approach.

EU Framework

“I want to talk about the EU because you mentioned specifically that I’ve also had a lot of friends and leaders of countries.”

Trump’s EU framework:

Multiple EU country leaders known
Personal relationships
First-term engagement
Friendly despite criticism

“I’ve gotten a normal, my first term, and a little bit during this period of four years, know them well, like them a lot, but they’re very frustrated because of the time everything seems to take to get approved.”

The specific problem:

Approval times excessive
Country leaders frustrated
EU bureaucracy obstacle
Personal experience shared

Environmental Impact

“Environmental impact statements for things that you shouldn’t even have to do that and many, many other ways that it takes.”

The environmental framework:

Excessive environmental review
Unnecessary studies
Process delays
Multiple other barriers

Ireland Example

“I was in the private life, my beautiful private life, before I had all these things happening, the world is a little different. I had a nice, simple life.”

Trump’s pre-political framework:

Real estate business
Simple life
Before political wildfire
Different world

“When I had that simple life, so I had a big project in Ireland, it had to get approval on something that would have made it even better.”

The Ireland project:

Trump’s Doonbeg golf resort (known context)
Sea wall/expansion project
Improvement of existing resort
Coastal erosion protection

“I got the approval from Ireland in a period of a week, and it was a very, very, very efficient, good approval.”

Irish approval:

One week
Efficient process
Good approval
National framework

EU Delay

“And they informed me, though, the problem is you’re going to have to get it from the EU, and we think that’ll take five to six years.”

The EU complication:

Additional approval needed
5-6 year timeline
Bureaucratic delay
Transnational framework

“And I said, you have to be kidding. This was before politics.”

Trump’s reaction:

Disbelief
Pre-political perspective
Business framework
Unreasonable timeline

Project Abandoned

“And I said, wait a minute, it’s not that important. I don’t want to go five or six years, but it would have been a big investment. It would have been nice and it would have been good for the project.”

Trump’s calculus:

Not worth 5-6 year wait
Big investment lost
Project improvement foregone
Opportunity cost

“I sent the people to the EU to see if they could speed it up. And basically it was a five or six year wait just to get a simple approval that Ireland gave me in a period of literally not much more than a week.”

The comparison:

Ireland: 1 week
EU: 5-6 years
Ratio: 250x+ slower
Absurd framework

“And I realized right then, that was the first time I really was involved with the EU, but I realized right then that’s a problem. And I didn’t even bother applying to do it. Or if I did, I pulled it very quickly.”

Trump’s realization:

First serious EU interaction
Recognized fundamental problem
Didn’t apply (or quickly withdrew)
Policy conclusion formed

Trump’s Self-Correction

“I have to be very accurate because I don’t want to be criticized. He did apply, actually. Now I want to be very accurate. So I don’t think I did, but if I did, I pulled it very quickly.”

Trump’s careful correction:

Memory adjustment
Accuracy concern
“He did apply, actually” (correcting himself)
Pulled quickly if applied

EU Treats America Unfairly

“So a lot of, in a very big business sense, a lot of people are claiming that’s the problem. From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly.”

Trump’s framework:

Business community consensus
EU regulatory problem
American treatment unfair
Relationship asymmetric

VAT Tax

“They have a large tax that we know about and a bad tax. And it’s a very substantial one.”

The Value Added Tax (VAT):

EU-wide 20%+ typical
Applied to imports
Functions as tariff
Systematic barrier

Trade Asymmetry

“Essentially, don’t take our farm products and they don’t take our cars, yet they send cars to us by the millions.”

The specific trade imbalance:

EU won’t take U.S. farm products
EU won’t take U.S. cars
EU sends cars to U.S. (millions)
One-way trade framework

European auto exports to U.S.:

Mercedes, BMW, Audi
Volkswagen, Porsche
Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini
Combined millions of vehicles annually

U.S. auto exports to EU:

Minimal
Regulatory barriers
Specification differences
Market structure

Non-Monetary Tariffs

“They put tariffs on things that we want to do. Like, for instance, I think they actually, these are non-economic or non-monetary tariffs. And those are very bad.”

Non-tariff barriers:

Regulatory exclusions
Technical specifications
Certification requirements
Standards divergence
Time delays

“And they make it very difficult to bring products into Europe, and yet they expect to be selling. And they do sell their products in the United States.”

The asymmetric framework.

$300 Billion Deficit

“So we have hundreds of billions of dollars of deficits with the EU. And nobody’s happy with it, and we’re going to do something about it, but nobody’s happy with it.”

The EU-U.S. trade deficit:

Hundreds of billions annually
Chronic imbalance
No solutions attempted
Trump committed to action

EU Speed Framework

“So I think the EU has to speed up their process. Friends of mine that are in some of the nations within the EU, great people, they want to be able to compete better and you can’t compete when you can’t go through the approval process fast.”

Trump’s advice:

EU must speed up
European leaders agree
Competition requires speed
Bureaucratic burden obstacle

“There’s no reason why it can’t go fast.”

The simple framework:

Should be faster
No legitimate reason for delay
Technical problems solvable
Will to reform lacking

Trump’s Different Approach

Trump’s domestic regulatory approach:

Executive order regulatory freeze
Paris Agreement withdrawal
Permits expedited
Environmental review reduced
Business-friendly framework

Contrast with EU:

U.S. faster approvals
EU slower process
U.S. business-friendly
EU bureaucratic
Competitive advantage

Davos Significance

Trump addressing Davos:

Annual global gathering
European dominance
Left-leaning framework
Trump directly challenging
Days of “asleep at the wheel” over

The Davos framework shift:

Former leaders deferential
Current Trump assertive
American leadership restored
European arrogance challenged
Substantive engagement

Trump’s Personal Touch

The Ireland example is characteristic Trump:

Personal anecdote
Concrete illustration
Specific comparison
Business framework
Memorable detail

Rather than abstract policy, Trump uses personal experience to illustrate principles. The 1 week vs 5-6 years framework becomes memorable meme.

Significance

Trump’s EU remarks captured:

Personal experience: Ireland 1 week vs EU 5-6 years
Business community voice: European frustration documented
Trade asymmetry: Cars, farm products, VAT
Policy implications: Tariffs coming
Davos platform: Direct global engagement

The Ireland vs EU timeline comparison — 1 week vs 5-6 years — provides devastating illustration of EU dysfunction. Concrete and personal rather than abstract.

Trump’s $300 billion+ EU trade deficit framework sets up coming tariffs. Policy framework preview during Davos address.

The non-monetary tariff framework explains the true EU protection mechanism. Not just taxes but entire regulatory framework preventing fair competition.

The European business frustration Trump cites is real. Eurozone growth persistent problem, regulatory burden consistently cited, political frameworks resistant to reform.

Key Takeaways

Trump on Ireland-EU comparison: “I got the approval from Ireland in a period of a week, and it was a very, very, very efficient, good approval. And they informed me, though, the problem is you’re going to have to get it from the EU, and we think that’ll take five to six years. And I said, you have to be kidding.”
Trump on Ireland project: “Basically it was a five or six year wait just to get a simple approval that Ireland gave me in a period of literally not much more than a week.”
Trump on EU unfairness: “From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly. They have a large tax that we know about and a bad tax. And it’s a very substantial one.”
Trump on trade asymmetry: “Essentially, don’t take our farm products and they don’t take our cars, yet they send cars to us by the millions.”
Trump on EU deficit: “So we have hundreds of billions of dollars of deficits with the EU. And nobody’s happy with it, and we’re going to do something about it, but nobody’s happy with it.”