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Donald Trump: The countries he has offended and will have to build bridges with if he wins

Expect some awkward meetings if the Republican finds himself in the White House

Harriet Agerholm
Tuesday 08 November 2016 11:38 GMT
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The Philippines reacted after Mr Trump said: 'We are dealing with animals'
The Philippines reacted after Mr Trump said: 'We are dealing with animals' (AP)

During his campaign to reach the White House, Donald Trump has thrown a few insults around.

He launched his campaign by saying an entire country (Mexico) was full of potential rapists, and since then his comments haven't got much better. If he becomes president the property tycoon will have some bridges to build once he enters 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Here are some of the world powers the Republican candidate has derided:

Mexico

The Trump campaign had yet to officially begin when the billionaire made enemies of Mexicans. “They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists,” he said in May 2016.

He went on to reason with a host at CNN: ”Somebody's doing the raping, Don! I mean somebody's doing it! Who's doing the raping? Who's doing the raping?“”

The property tycoon has tried to explain his words by saying he was against illegal immigrants rather than the entire country of Mexico. But he has also taken aim at the government calling them “totally corrupt”.

Yet perhaps the tycoon saved his relationship with the nation of Mexico when he posted a photo on Facebook of him eating tacos with the caption: “Happy Cinco de Mayo! [...] I love Hispanics!”

USA: Donald Trump will build the BIGGEST anti-Mexico wall... apparently

China

Rape continued to be a theme the Republican favoured when insulting other nations.

“We can't continue to allow China to rape our country, and that's what they're doing,“ he told a rally in 2016.

The Republican nominee has repeatedly accused China of manipulating its currency, of stealing American jobs, of engaging in state-sponsored cyber hacking, and even of inventing climate change.

“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive,” Mr Trump tweeted in November 2012.

But despite what Mr Trump may have said, Chinese state-linked media have intimated that “many Chinese prefer Trump” over Ms Clinton.

The billionaire “could in fact be the best president for China,” according to Hong Kong political commentator Wu Jun said during a recent on-air discussion. Mr Wu said this was because he “is a businessman who puts his commercial interests above everything else.”

The Phillipines

The southeast Asian country was considered one of the “terrorist nations” Mr Trump included in the list whose citizens Mr Trump said he would ban.

“We are dealing with animals,” he said at a campaign rally in August.

But the business magnate has given a different impression on the website for the $150 million, 57-story Trump Tower he built in Manila.

“I’ve always loved the Philippines,” he said. “I think it’s just a special place and Manila is one of Asia’s most spectacular cities.”

Greece

Mr Trump has been criticised for not acting as a President in waiting when he said Greece was “unsalvageable”.

He exclaimed during his presidential announcement speech in 2015: “At $24 trillion, that’s the point of no return. We will be there soon. That’s when we become Greece! That’s when we become a country that’s unsalvageable.”

Germany

Rather than offering condolences following an attack in a Paris police station, Mr Trump took to Twitter to say: “Germany is a total mess - big crime. Get smart!”

Many were confused as to why Mr Trump appeared to believe Paris was in Germany, although the Republican’s supporters denied he believed this.

He has also taken aim at German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally. After he lost out to the stateswoman in the competition for Time magazine’s Person of the Year award he said she was “ruining Germany”.

India

The Republican nominee may have made enemies in India when he spoke to supporters at a rally in Delaware and appeared to put on a bad Indian accent to impersonate a call centre employee.

Iran

Mr Trump accused the Iran of acting dishonestly during negotiations for it to reduce its stockpile of uranium in July 2015.

Iran continues to delay the nuclear deal while doing many bad things behind our backs. Time to walk and double the sanctions. Stop payments!” he said in a tweet

Four days later, Tehran agreed signed the accord.

Saudi Arabia

The property tycoon may not have made any friends in the Gulf Kingdom when he took to Twitter to deride the Saudi Prime Alwaleed bin Talal, calling him “dopey” and claiming he “wants to control our US. politicians with daddy’s money.”

United Kingdom

In December 2015, Mr Trump told the UK to “be honest”, saying the United Kingdom was "trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem".

France

Trump has refused to rule out banning individuals from France, saying it was one of several countries “that have totally been“ compromised by terrorism.

The bad-feeling would appear to be mutual. In August, French President, Francois Hollande said the billionaire businessman “makes you want to retch”.

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