Europe's Trump strategy is wrong, says Scaramucci: be firm like Carney, not flattering like Rutte

European leaders are using the wrong strategy to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as the White House's communications director during Trump's first term.

In an interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag, Scaramucci said you have to be firm with Trump, that he does not respect people who are not, and that leaders have got to wait him out.

Scaramucci described two models of behaviour in handling Trump: one shown by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and one by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He said Carney is handling him better, and that the Canadian people are with him, even if it causes some level of economic hardship.

Rutte, on the other hand, is making a big mistake, Scaramucci said. When you equivocate or flatter Trump, acting in the manner Rutte has acted, he said, all you are doing is losing his respect; you are not gaining anything.

Rutte has often lauded the U.S. president. In an interview with Politico this summer, the military alliance chief said he just likes the man and thinks what Trump is doing for NATO is great news.

Europe has seemingly yielded to Trump's wishes on numerous occasions. The EU-U.S. trade deal was criticized as playing in Washington's favour, while European allies agreed to a target of spending 5 percent of GDP by 2035 at last year's NATO summit in The Hague, matching Trump's headline demand.

Carney, by contrast, has been more unwilling to bow to Trump's pressure. He walked away from U.S. trade talks, saying Ottawa could not accept the offer or the demands, and promised to match Washington's new tariffs dollar for dollar.

In the interview, Scaramucci also lambasted members of Trump's own Republican Party, describing what he called the cowardice of the political servants who are supposed to check Trump, namely the members of the Republican Senate caucus and the House caucus.

He added that lawmakers had failed to speak out against Trump's decision to waive key provisions of the Russian sanctions law championed by the late South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, or to rebuke him, even though they could override him. He called it a case study in strong-arm tactics, saying people who believe in authoritarianism operate with levels of intimidation, as Trump has done.