Wading into foreign affairs days before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump said Britain's decision to leave the European Union would "end up being a great thing" and predicted the bloc would continue to break apart. Trump indicated he was indifferent to whether the EU stays together or not, a sharp break from the Obama administration, which encouraged Great Britain to remain in the EU last year. His praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin has come under intense scrutiny following reports that Russia interfered in the U.S. election to help him win. While saying he had "great respect" for the German leader, Trump said Merkel made a "catastrophic mistake" by welcoming an influx of immigrants into her country. "A lot of these countries aren't paying what they're supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States," Trump said.

Source: ABC News January 15, 2017 23:38 UTC