During a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, President Donald Trump said the European Union’s offer of a “zero-for-zero” tariff deal doesn’t go far enough to roll back new tariffs the US placed on the EU last week.

Real Clear Politics reporter Phillip Wegmann asked, “The EU has said that they have offered zero-for-zero tariffs on cars and industrial goods. Is that not enough?”

Trump answered, “No, it’s not. The EU has been very tough over the years. It was — I always say it was formed to really do damage to the United States in trade. That’s the reason it was formed. It was formed with all of the countries from Europe — I guess most of them, not all of them, but most of them and they formed together to create a little bit of a monopoly situation, to create a unified force against the United States for trade, so they have NATO, which is largely the same countries, and they took advantage of us, dollar-wise and militarily until I got there.”

REPORTER: The EU has said they offered zero for zero tariffs on cars and industrial goods. Is that not enough?

TRUMP: No, it's not pic.twitter.com/tsNbYcOfFg

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 7, 2025

Trump also brought up NATO and how he pushed member countries to pay more. “We were paying for NATO, so we’re paying them to guard them militarily, and they’re screwing us on trade, so that’s not a good combination,” he said.

JUST IN: Stock market bounces back while more than 50 countries, including Japan and the EU, have contacted the United States to negotiate deals on tariffs.

The Trump effect at work. pic.twitter.com/lXzqEepZtH

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 7, 2025

EU President Ursula von der Leyen responded earlier Monday, saying, “We stand ready to negotiate with the United States. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners, because Europe is always ready for a good deal.”

At the same time, she said the EU is ready to fight back if needed. “We are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests,” she said. “And in addition, we will also protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion.” Reuters reported that one of those possible countermeasures could be a 25 percent tariff on American products.

Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, repeated that now is the time to make changes in how the US handles trade. He said he wants to “reset the table” and that this could be the only chance to do it while he’s in office.