‘Mr. Honda & Mr. Toyota...': Trump Cuts Short Own Joke On ‘Fluent Japanese'
/ Jul 19, 2025, 01:25PM IST
U.S. President Donald Trump began recounting a light-hearted story about meeting Japan's Honda and Toyota executives, introduced by former Tokyo ambassador Bill Hagerty, but abruptly stopped before mimicking the Japanese language. "And then he said, Mr. Toyota, right? Toyota. And I said, What business are you in? Let me guess. He said, Cars. He was my interpreter," he added. His comments came at the event to sign the GENIUS Act, attended by business leaders, including representatives from Robinhood, Tether, and Gemini. Watch.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
5 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Asian stocks slip from highs, dollar gains ahead of crucial 'tariff' week
Asian shares eased from highs on Friday, with Japanese markets retreating from a record peak, as investors locked in profits ahead of a crucial week that includes US President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings. The dollar gained against the yen after bouncing off a two-week low on Thursday, helped by some firm US economic data, while Japan's currency was weighed down by political uncertainty amid media reports Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down. Benchmark Japanese government bond yields hovered just below the highest since 2008. Japan's broad Topix index, which had jumped more than 5 per cent over the previous two sessions to reach an all-time high, pulled back 0.7 per cent. The Nikkei slipped 0.5 per cent from Thursday's one-year high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.5 per cent and mainland Chinese blue chips declined 0.2 per cent. Australia's equity benchmark declined 0.5 per cent. At the same time, US S&P 500 futures added 0.2 per cent, after the cash index edged up slightly to a new record closing high overnight, buoyed by robust earnings from Google parent Alphabet. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also marked a record high. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe edged down 0.1 per cent, but remained just below an all-time peak from Thursday. The index is on course for a 1.3 per cent weekly advance, buoyed in large part by optimism for US trade deals with the European Union and China, following an agreement with Japan this week. Next week, in the US alone, investors need to contend with Trump's August 1 deadline for trade deals, a Federal Reserve policy meeting, the closely watched monthly payrolls report, and earnings from the likes of Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft. The Bank of Japan has its own policy announcement on Thursday, and Prime Minister Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party holds a meeting the same day. That's after the European Central Bank held rates steady on Thursday, pausing its easing campaign as it waits to assess any impact from US tariffs. The euro ended the session down 0.2 per cent against a buoyant dollar, and was little changed on Friday at $1.1743. The US currency advanced 0.3 per cent to 147.37 yen, adding to Thursday's 0.4 per cent gain. Trump kept the pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates after a rare presidential visit to the central bank on Thursday, although he said he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would. US 10-year Treasury yields edged down to 4.39 per cent on Friday, effectively erasing an advance on Thursday. [US/] Equivalent Japanese government bond yields eased 0.5 basis point to 1.595 per cent, just off this week's high of 1.6 per cent, a level last seen in October 2008. JGB yields have been rising on concerns the political scale is tilting more towards fiscal stimulus, after big gains for opposition parties backing consumption tax cuts in Sunday's upper house election. Pressure is building on the more fiscally hawkish Ishiba to quit after his coalition lost its majority in the vote, after doing the same in lower house elections last October. Gold was flat at around $3,368 per ounce, keeping it on course for a 0.5 per cent rise this week. Brent crude futures gained 0.3 per cent to $69.35 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 0.2 per cent to $66.18 per barrel. [O/R] (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
5 minutes ago
- India Today
Why Donald Trump doesn't want Google, Microsoft to hire Indians
US President Donald Trump has told major tech companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple to stop hiring foreign workers, including from India, and focus instead on creating jobs in the United at an AI Summit in Washington on Wednesday, Trump said American companies must now put national interest first, especially in the fast-growing field of artificial said that top US technology firms have made huge profits while setting up operations in countries like China and hiring large numbers of employees in argued that this has come at the cost of American workers. 'Many of our largest tech companies have reaped the blessings of American freedom while building their factories in China, hiring workers in India and stashing profits in Ireland,' Trump said during the event. 'Under President Trump, those days are over.'He said the mindset of these firms had become too global and called for a new 'spirit of patriotism and national loyalty' in Silicon Valley and across the American tech industry. 'We want you to put America first. That's all we ask,' he also used the event to announce three new executive orders aimed at boosting the US's AI industry. One of the orders lays out a national plan to fast-track AI development by easing regulations and encouraging companies to build data centres and other key infrastructure inside the US. The strategy is called 'Winning the Race' and is focused on helping the US lead in AI second order puts new rules on companies that receive federal funds to build AI tools. These companies must now ensure that the tools they develop are politically neutral. Trump said his administration would not support what he called 'woke' AI systems and blamed previous policies that focused on diversity and inclusion for slowing down progress in technology.'We are getting rid of woke,' he said. 'AI must be accurate and not influenced by ideology.' The new rules will also apply to government agencies that use AI tools, and these systems must not be biased or driven by political also questioned the use of the term 'artificial intelligence,' saying he prefers a term that better reflects its power. 'It's not artificial, it's genius,' he third executive order focuses on helping US-built AI products compete globally. It includes steps to support exports and ensure full development of AI technology within the Trump's comments have sparked concern among tech workers in countries like India, no official steps have been announced yet to limit hiring from abroad. However, industry watchers say such remarks from the President could affect the hiring plans of major tech firms, especially those that rely heavily on skilled engineers from India and Indian tech professionals, many of whom are employed in roles related to software development, data science, and AI in the US, Trump's message may create recent years, several US companies have increased their hiring in India to cut costs and tap into the country's large pool of skilled engineers. The latest statement from Trump could put pressure on firms to re-evaluate their hiring strategies, especially if new rules or limitations are the global race for AI dominance continues, the push for more national control and local jobs in the US could have effects on tech ecosystems in countries like India, which play a key role in supporting American firms through outsourcing, engineering services, and back-end operations.- Ends advertisement
Indian Express
5 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India-UK trade pact — a template for deals with America and Europ
On Thursday, India and the UK signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that has been many years in the making. Leaders of both countries exuded confidence that the agreement would open up markets and bring enormous benefits to their countries. The goal is to double bilateral trade between the nations from roughly $56 billion now. The signing of the deal was accompanied by the unveiling of the UK-India Vision 2035 — which envisages greater engagement in areas such as defence, tech and education, indicating a desire to deepen the relationship between the two countries. Through this trade agreement, said to be one of the most comprehensive deals that Delhi has entered into, India has indicated its willingness to bring down its tariffs substantially as it seeks to integrate more closely with developed countries and encourage more investment into the country. Delhi's high tariff walls have been criticised by others, including the US. The Office of the United States Trade Representative had recently noted that India's average applied tariff rate was 17 per cent, while that on agricultural products was even higher at 39 per cent. As per reports, under this new deal, the average tariffs on British products will fall from 15 per cent to 3 per cent, which could potentially lead to a large increase in UK exports. On the other hand, the agreement paves the way for 'unprecedented duty free access for 99 per cent of India's exports to the UK', covering almost the entire trade basket. This includes labour intensive segments such as textiles, leather, footwear and gems and jewellery, as well as sectors like engineering goods and auto components. Alongside, India has secured significant commitments on services and labour mobility. The agreement increases market access in critical areas such as IT and IT-enabled services as well as financial, legal, professional and educational services. The double contribution convention agreement will help Indian professionals and their employers avoid making social security payments in the UK, thereby bringing down the costs of doing business. The India-UK deal comes at a time when the global trading architecture has been upended by US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Trump has over the past few days announced new deals with countries such as Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, after similar agreements with Britain and Vietnam, with the tariffs ranging between 10 and 20 per cent. In the case of India, even as talks continue, a deal remains elusive. India is also negotiating a deal with the EU — as this paper has reported, the two sides have agreed to seven out of 23 chapters in the agreement. The deal with the UK could serve as a template for some of the issues, especially the more contentious ones. Delhi must press ahead with these trade agreements as it seeks to integrate with global supply chains more closely.
