U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is called "the president of Europe" for his management of the war in Ukraine and for getting NATO leaders to agree to raise defense spending to 5%.

"They respect their president, meaning me, so much that, jokingly, they call me the president of Europe, which is an honor," Trump told journalists in the Oval Office during an event to sign executive orders.

While speaking about Democratic opposition and accusing them of funding protests to "try to destroy the country," Trump stated that, in his opinion, the U.S. "is now, by far, the most respected country in the world."

According to him, having regained this respect, which he denies existed during the presidency of his predecessor, Joe Biden, is due to the leadership he has shown towards some European partners.

"They saw it with the European leaders," Trump pointed out regarding the summit he held last September 18th at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"I like those people. They are good people. They are great leaders," stated Trump, who assured that "it was a great meeting, and our country (the U.S.) is respected again."

Trump also highlighted the commitment he has secured from NATO leaders to increase their contributions to the Atlantic Alliance.

"They saw it with NATO, where they agreed to go from 2% to 5%," he recalled regarding the agreement reached by Alliance countries to increase national spending on related items to 5% of their GDP.

Hours later, the president again referred to European partners from the presidential office, but this time on trade matters.

"The biggest deal that has been made is the one we made with the European nations. It is the biggest of all time. I think it is the biggest deal ever made," said Trump at an event commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Kabul airport attacks.

"(The European countries) are paying us 950 billion that comes into this country. They are going to buy 750 billion in oil and gas from the U.S., and many other things. So it's incredible. Our country is doing very well. We are very strong now," added the American.

This agreement has been received unevenly in Europe, and Brussels has insisted on defending that the tariffs of between 30% and 50% with which Trump threatened would have had serious consequences for millions of jobs if a deal had not been reached with Washington.