At a White House event on Wednesday, President Donald Trump was duly named the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal,” while receiving an award. However, he had a dig at Europe and its renewable energy, slamming wind turbines, but claiming that the people there like him. However, polls clearly show his approval across Western Europe has plunged, while he criticizes their renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Trump used the occasion to sign an executive order, instructing the Department of Defense to buy electricity from coal-fired power plants. This move is designed to give the coal industry a welcome boost. While praising coal as a reliable energy source, the president pointed out the economic benefits of supporting local power plants, while framing this as part of a broader energy agenda.
While making his speech, Trump brought up the spread of wind turbines across Europe. He has slammed them before, saying they are ugly, but now claims the technology is failing, while labelling turbines “losers, they lose.” He particularly hates a view of wind turbines while playing golf.
“Every time it goes around it loses a fortune,” he said. “You’re supposed to make money with energy, not lose money with energy. And they lose a lot of money.”
“They’re all over Europe,” he said, adding, “And you know, I was recently there and it’s not recognizable what they’ve done to their beautiful fields and those beautiful, beautiful scenic areas and they put those wind turbines all over the place and they’re chugging, chugging, chugging, not doing a damn thing.
“It’s horrible. They’ve lost their way. Not actually recognizable.”
While slamming Europe’s efforts to use renewable energy, he noted that his views on energy, particularly on fossil fuel production, could be the reason why Europeans dislike him. “And then I wonder why they don’t like me over there,” he admitted.
However, Trump did stress that he still enjoys some support from people who agree with his energy ideas. “But you know who likes me over there? The people like me over there. I can tell you because they know I’m right,” he claimed.
Despite this, a YouGov survey run in January asked, “How popular is Donald Trump in Western Europe?” From that it is clear that the US president is still mostly unpopular in Europe.
As noted by the Mirror, Low support was shown across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, where none of the countries recorded more than 19 percent of respondents with a favorable view. Meanwhile, Denmark ranked the lowest with just 4 percent approving, while 94 percent held an unfavorable opinion of President Donald Trump.
Trump also called out China during his speech, again criticizing wind power, saying, “I’m not a big fan of those crazy windmills that are all made in China. You know, they’re made in China but not used by China.”
“They sell us those things for fortunes, but we don’t do them anymore. We’re not going to do any hopefully for years in this country,” he said, while pushing his focus on domestic energy production.
Meanwhile, on X, Republicans Against Trump shared a video of Trump’s speech and his comments about wind turbines.
Trump: I was recently in Europe. Those beautiful scenic areas, they put wind turbines all over the place. They are chugging, chugging, chugging.
I wonder why they don’t like me over there. You know who likes me over there? The people like me over there pic.twitter.com/dXavXZQ4o6
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 12, 2026
X users were quick to comment, mostly negatively, with one writing: “Europe has wind power everywhere because it’s smart and future-proof. Trump hates it because it doesn’t line his fossil fuel buddies pockets. Simple as that.”
Another wrote, “Not true. They hate you Donny with a passion. You’ve turned on your allies, and that’s a big mistake.”
In a similar vein, another commented, “complain about wind turbines, throw in the “they hate me” bit, then pivot to “the people love me.”
It’s the same script every time — victim + ego + crowd validation in one sentence.”
Another commented, “As a European I can categorically confirm that we despise the sex offending liar and/or are mocking Trump. Even Conservatives I know ( not many thank goodness) think he’s the worse POTUS in History.”
