Donald Trump says Merkel made ‘catastrophic mistake’ on migrants

He said Mrs Merkel was by far Europe’s most important leader, and that the EU had become a vehicle for Germany.

Mr Trump was giving details of his foreign policy goals in an interview with British and German newspapers.

He told the Times and Bild his priority was to create fairer trade deals for the US and have strong borders.

He said the US had to address its trade deficit with the rest of the world, particularly with China.

The emphasis for his administration should be smart trade, rather than free trade, he said.

The interview was conducted for the Times by UK MP Michael Gove, who played a key role in the Vote Leave campaign that led to Brexit, and who also has a column in the newspaper.

An image of Mr Gove and Mr Trump giving a thumbs-up at New York’s Trump Tower, where they met, was shared on Twitter.

Asked about a possible deal with Russia, Mr Trump said nuclear weapons should be part of it and “reduced very substantially”, in return for lifting US sanctions.

Turning to the Middle East, he condemned the 2003 invasion of Iraq as possibly the worst decision ever made in the history of the country, and said safe zones should have been created within Syria and paid for by the United States’ Gulf allies.

In a separate interview with the Washington Post, Mr Trump said he was close to finalising a replacement for President Barack Obama’s healthcare programme, the Affordable Care Act.

He gave few details, other than saying there would be healthcare for everybody and that costs would be lower.

He said he was waiting for his nominee for health secretary, Tom Price, to be confirmed, before unveiling the plan.