The European Union (EU) has to foot the bill for U.S. protection through budgets or tariffs, with no other options currently available given the bloc's military weakness, said former chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Pascal Lamy, former WTO director-general, stated that U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to monetize American protection is turning transatlantic relations into a medieval-like system of lords and barons. The French political consultant also said that he believes that until Europe strengthens its economy, technology, and defense, the situation will remain vulnerable. "In this world, which is now dominated by force and not by law, the EU is weak. And the reason why the EU is weak is that we still need the U.S. military and strategic protection, notably against Russia. This is the reason why the EU had to accept in Turnberry a very unbalanced deal. The EU did not want to provoke Mr. Trump. The big change in the transatlantic relation is that Mr. Trump wants to monetize U.S. protection," said Lamy. "It's like in the Middle Ages, there is a lord, there are barons, and the barons side with the Lord because the Lord has the biggest army and protects them. So this is the situation. We still need the U.S., and we now have to pay for that either budget-wise, which by the way makes some sense, or tariff-wise, which by the way does not make sense. But given our strategic weakness, for the moment, we have no other option. And the consequence of that is that the EU has to become stronger in economic intake, in defense, in military capacities. That's the way to go. It will take time," he continued. The United States and the EU reached a trade deal following talks between President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on July 27 at the Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The agreement allows the U.S. to impose a broad 15 percent tariff on EU goods while securing zero-tariff access for a range of strategic American exports. In contrast, the EU has pledged to purchase 750 billion U.S. dollars' worth of American energy and commit an additional 600 billion U.S. dollars in investments in the United States. The trade deal, hailed by the White House as historic, drew widespread criticism across Europe for imposing steep tariffs on EU exports and being heavily imbalanced in favor of the United States. SHOTLIST: FILE: Brussels, Belgium - Date Unknown 1. Various of European Union (EU) flags; Beijing, China - Recent 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Pascal Lamy, former director-general, World Trade Organization (partially overlaid with shot 3/ending with shots 4-5): "In this world, which is now dominated by force and not by law, the EU is weak. And the reason why the EU is weak is that we still need the U.S. military and strategic protection, notably against Russia. This is the reason why the EU had to accept in Turnberry a very unbalanced deal. The EU did not want to provoke Mr. Trump. The big change in the transatlantic relation is that Mr. Trump wants to monetize U.S. protection."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] Brussels, Belgium - Nov 24, 2025 3. EU flags; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Washington D.C., USA - October 2024 4. Various of White House, U.S. national flag; FILE: New York City, USA - October 2024 5. Various of port, Statue of Liberty; Beijing, China - Recent 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Pascal Lamy, former director-general, World Trade Organization: "It's like in the Middle Ages, there is a lord, there are barons, and the barons side with the Lord because the Lord has the biggest army and protects them. So this is the situation. We still need the U.S., and we now have to pay for that either budget-wise, which by the way makes some sense, or tariff-wise, which by the way does not make sense. But given our strategic weakness, for the moment, we have no other option. And the consequence of that is that the EU has to become stronger in economic intake, in defense, in military capacities. That's the way to go. It will take time."; Brussels, Belgium - Nov 24, 2025 7. Various of EU flags. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]