EU chief sees Trump announcements as threats

European Council President Donald Tusk, right, shakes hands with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev prior to a meeting at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

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Small business leaders applaud President Donald Trump after he signed an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Trump order is aimed at significantly cutting regulations. White House officials are calling the directive a "one in, two out" plan. It requires government agencies requesting a new regulations to identify two regulations they will cut from their own departments. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (The Associated Press)

European Council President Donald Tusk, right, speaks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev prior to a meeting at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

BRUSSELS – European Union President Donald Tusk says that the first weeks of Donald Trump are contributing to the "highly unpredictable" outlook for the bloc.

In a letter to 27 EU leaders, Tusk mentioned the Trump administration as part of an external "threat" together with China, Russia, radical Islam, war and terror. The letter was not sent to Britain, which is poised to leave the bloc.

Echoing statements from many European capitals, he said that those global challenges, "as well as worrying declarations by the new American administration, all make our future highly unpredictable."

He said that "particularly the change in Washington puts the European Union in a difficult situation; with the new administration seeming to put into question the last 70 years of American foreign policy."