New Delhi, July 31 -- WASHINGTON - President Trump told a French television channel Thursday that Washington's European allies would be in "big trouble" without him as their friend - a warning he declined to explain and paired with a refusal to say whether he intends to raise import tariffs on the European Union further.

"Very lucky, they have me as their friend, or they would be in big trouble," Trump told France's LCI news channel. He offered no detail on what the trouble would be, what would cause it, or what European governments could do to avoid it.

The remark arrived one week after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs of 10 percent and 12.5 percent on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union - levies th...