As Donald Trump loudly boasted of his economic achievements at a recent GOP event, Speaker Mike Johnson was caught catching up on headlines about the plunging stock market,
At a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee Tuesday night, the president hailed his return to office so far as America's "most successful 100 days in this country's history."
Pointing to Johnson, Trump joked about how House Republicans – including the Speaker – felt skittish about his bullish levies.
"I just saw it today, a couple of your congressmen, sir, 'I think we should get involved in the negotiation of the tariffs… Oh, that's what I need, I need some guy telling me how to negotiate."
As the president continued to speak, Johnson was engrossed in his phone. A reporter from Notus captured a picture of the Speaker's screen, which showed him looking at the long-running, right-wing news aggregation site Drudge Report.
“Stocks Continue Plunge,” read the main headline.
Meanwhile, on stage, Trump boasted that world leaders panicked by his eye-watering global tariffs were “kissing my a**” in desperate bids to reduce their levies. “Please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir,” he said mockingly in a simpering voice.
Trump’s reciprocal tariffs went into effect against dozens of nations just after midnight on Wednesday, including a 104 percent levy on Chinese imports. After Beijing responded by introducing an 84 percent retaliatory levy on U.S. imports, the president urged the public to stay calm.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well,” he wrote on Truth Social. “The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”
However, at the fundraiser some expressed doubts and questioned how the tariffs would impact Republican fundraising. A GOP strategist told Notus about a “major contributor who temporarily suspended all political giving because of the economic uncertainty related to the tariffs.”
