It would be “in the interests of the United States and Europe” for the European Union to be dismantled, Nile Gardiner, director of the European arm of the US-based Heritage Foundation, has told Dutch current affairs show Nieuwsuur in an interview.

Gardiner told the programme the Trump administration supports “movements and political leaders in Europe” that are pro-American and believe the continent should take a different course. He described leaders in Italy, Poland and Hungary as “important allies”.

The Heritage Foundation is widely seen as a key architect of policy for the second term of US president Donald Trump. Gardiner heads its European branch, the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

“I see no future scenario in which Europe is better off with the European Union than without it,” Gardiner said. He has made similar comments multiple times, saying on the Heritage Center website earlier this month that “the transatlantic alliance will be far better off when the EU is consigned to the dustbin of history.”

Gardiner’s remarks follow increasingly sharp criticism of the EU from Washington. In February, US vice-president JD Vance publicly attacked Europe, while a new US national security strategy published earlier this month warns that Europe risks “losing its civilisation through immigration and the erosion of national identities”.

The document praises nationalist parties seeking to preserve national character and history, and explicitly backs “patriotic parties” working to dismantle the EU from within.

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz has described the US stance as “unacceptable and indefensible”. Eurocommissioner for human rights Michael O’Flaherty urged European leaders to show courage in the face of American criticism.

Caretaker Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof did not comment publicly but Dutch far right politicians have said they supported the document.

Gardiner told Nieuwsuur the EU wields too much power over member states and suppresses freedom of expression. He pointed to fines totalling €120 million imposed by the European Commission on social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, saying such measures amounted to “attacks on American tech companies” that undermine US security.

He also accused the EU of sidelining the will of voters, curbing the influence of radical right parties such as Germany’s AfD, and opening the door to mass migration. “All of this means the EU is doomed,” he said.

Gardiner also warned that EU ambitions to develop a stronger defence role clash with US interests. “That undermines Nato by diverting military resources,” he said. “Nato will hopefully exist for centuries. The EU will not.”