Donald Trump has insisted “I know what the hell I’m doing” by imposing sweeping tariffs and bragged that world leaders are “kissing my ass” as they try to negotiate trade deals.
The US president was speaking to political donors at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner in Washington on Tuesday night.
His rambling 90-minute address came just hours before his latest tariffs went into effect. “I know what the hell I’m doing,” the president said. “I know what I’m doing. And you know what I’m doing too. That’s why you vote for me.”
The administration has given conflicting signals over whether the tariffs are open to negotiation. Trump claimed: “I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are. They are dying to make a deal.”
Mocking the pleas of foreign leaders, he parodied: “Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir!”
Less than a day later, Trump shelved plans to hike tariffs on most countries except China, unveiling a 90-day pause and pulling back from his global trade war after days of market turmoil and warnings of recession.
After insisting for days that he would hold firm on his aggressive trade strategy, Trump announced that all countries that had not retaliated against US tariffs would receive a reprieve – and only face a blanket US tariff of 10% – until July.
It is unclear where that leaves earlier threats of more tariffs to come. On Tuesday, Trump had said: “We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals and once we do that they’re going to come rushing back into our country because we’re the big market … So we’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals.”
The tariffs, announced last week on what Trump billed as “liberation day”, have wiped trillions of dollars off the US stock market and raised fears of a global recession; on Wednesday China slapped 84% retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary, described it as “the biggest self-inflicted wound we’ve put on our economy in history”.
Even Republicans, unswervingly loyal on other issues, are increasingly uneasy. Several senators have signed on to a bipartisan bill that would require presidents to justify new tariffs to Congress. Don Bacon of Nebraska has said he will introduce a House version of the bill, saying that Congress needs to restore its powers over tariffs.
But Trump lashed out at the dissenters on Tuesday night. The author of The Art of the Deal said: “I see some rebel Republican, some guy who wants to grandstand, say, ‘I think that Congress should take over negotiations.’ Let me tell you, you don’t negotiate like I negotiate.
“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.”
Despite the turmoil, he claimed that he had the “most successful 100 days in the history of this country” and the stage was now “set for a monumental victory for the Republicans in the midterms” next year.
Turning to his signature issues, border security and immigration, the president revived a popular culture reference from his election campaign last year: Hannibal Lecter, the fictional serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs.
“They used to go crazy when I talked about … the late, great Hannibal Lecter. Right? ‘Why does he talk about that? He’s a fictional character.’ He’s not. We have many of them that came across the border. He’s actually not.
“But when the people went to the voting booth, then we understood why he talked about that because they voted for us. They say, ‘We don’t want Hannibal Lecter in our country.’”
The dinner was also notable for a slip of the tongue by Tom Emmer, a Republican congressman from Minnesota. He told the audience: “President cunt – Trump is counting on us!”, hastily correcting himself.
The error was caught with glee by social media users. The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, tweeted: “Had it right the first time.”
