TOI correspondent from Washington: MAGA supremo Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that many countries are calling him and “kissing my ass… dying to make a deal” after he unleashed a tariff war that has upended global trade.
In a speech at a Republican Congressional Committee dinner, the US President did not identify any countries but said they were calling him and saying “please please sir let me make a deal, I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything sir.”
Trump revealed last week that he has a “very productive call” with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, “who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the US.” On Monday, he spoke of a call with South Korea’s acting president to discuss trade issues. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met him in the Oval Office. Beyond this, the White House has not released any call records, much less detailed any ass kissing.
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In his speech, Trump also mocked US lawmakers who are trying to reclaim legislative powers to impose tariffs, saying Congress sucks at negotiation and he knows what he’s doing. “I know what the hell I’m doing. I know what I’m doing, and you know what I’m doing, too. That’s why you vote for me.”
Trump is known to use blunt words and hyperbole with little regard for facts, but the latest salvo upset even some of his MAGA followers who said it was unbecoming of the president to use such language. “That’s no way to talk about other countries. All his negotiating tactics could be turned against him, and the American people would end up paying for all his arrogance,” one supporter wrote on X.

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