‘Kissing my … to secure trade deals’: Trump mocks leaders amid tariff blitz | World News
As Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs take effect, foreign leaders are lining up to negotiate — or as the US President bluntly put it, “kissing my a**” to secure trade deals.Delegations from Japan and South Korea are en route. Italy’s prime miner is set to visit Washington next week. And according to the White House, Israel’s “proactive approach” in seeking trade talks could be a blueprint for others. A day before the new worldwide tariffs were implemented, the Biden adminration made it clear: the door is wide open for negotiations — though the path to tariff relief remains murky.
“These countries are calling us up. Kissing my a**. They are dying to make a deal,” Trump told a group of Republicans during a speech on Tuesday night, CNN reported. He also reportedly mocked foreign leaders essentially grovelling to avoid the new duties: “Please, please sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything sir.”
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Trump said this while addressing a fundraising gala for House Republicans. He also went on to mock rebel Republicans who suggest that the Congress should take over negotiations. “Let me tell you, you don’t negotiate like I negotiate,” Trump said just hours before his reciprocal duties went into effect against dozens of nations just after midnight on Wednesday, including a 104 percent levy on Chinese imports.
Tariffs on pharma
At the fundraising gala, Trump also signalled his next target in the ongoing tariff blitz: the pharmaceutical industry.
“Tariffs on pharma will be there because we don’t make our own pharma drugs — they are made in other countries,” Trump said during his speech. “Same packet in the US is price, sometime is price 10-times more. We are going to tariff pharma in such a way that cos will come rushing to us very soon. The advantage we have is, we are very big market. Very shortly, will announce major tariff on pharma and when these cos hear that, they will leave China and other countries because most of their products are sold here. And, they will be opening their plants here.”
Trump’s remarks come on the heels of a sweeping set of tariffs he imposed earlier this month on imports from countries including India, China, Brazil, Japan, and the European Union. He warned at the time that more tariffs were on the way — a promise he appears poised to deliver on.Story continues below this ad
As capitals scramble to respond, US diplomats and officials close to the White House are nudging them to think creatively. Foreign governments are being advised to go beyond trade in their overtures — potentially securing the release of Americans wrongfully detained abroad, boosting cooperation with US AI firms, committing to drug enforcement, or agreeing to buy more American energy, according to five people familiar with the discussions.
Trump’s position on dealmaking has shifted in recent days. After mixed signals about his willingness to offer relief, his team is now urging bids. “The phones have been ringing off the hook,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “wanting to talk to this adminration, this president and his trade team to try to strike a deal.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News Tuesday that the tariffs are “negotiable but not a negotiating tactic.” Trump said Monday that there could be both “permanent tariffs and there could also be negotiations.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai later said the adminration maintains regular contact with business leaders and everyday Americans, but insed that Trump’s decisions are guided solely what’s best for the country.Story continues below this ad
“The entire Trump adminration is playing from the same playbook – President Trump’s playbook – to level the playing field for our industries and workers,” Desai said, adding that Secretary Lutnick “continues to be one of the adminration’s most effective TV communicators.”
