Latest news with #ArtOfTheDeal
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Why Trump is so bothered by his new 'nasty' nickname as he vows to double down
President Donald Trump got testy with a reporter last week who asked him about a new acronym labeling his trade policy: Taco - Trump Always Chickens Out. During a Wednesday back-and-forth in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about the term by CNBC's Megan Cassella, which had been coined in a column in early May by the Financial Times' Robert Armstrong. Trump lashed out in an almost cartoonish way, akin to Michael J. Fox's Back to the Future character Marty McFly, whose famous line was, 'nobody calls me chicken!' 'Don't ever say what you said,' Trump told Cassella. 'That's a nasty question. To me that's the nastiest question,' the commander-in-chief fumed. A former adviser who's known Trump for years explained to the Daily Mail just why the insult got under Trump's skin. 'Donald Trump is known for the "Art of the Deal," negotiations and strategy, and ultimately winning,' the adviser said. 'He has to win and he also - you never give up, you never give up.' Trump's 1997 book The Art of the Deal, co-written by Tony Schwartz, helped turn the New York real estate developer into a brand. 'These tariffs and resetting the world's financial order, not to be hyperbolic, but at least the global trade dynamics, is not only an issue that he's really been focused on since the 80s, but is also going to be one of the lasting legacies of his presidency,' the ex-adviser pointed out. Calling anyone a 'chicken' 'generally is an insult,' the source said, but it 'also completely goes in the face of the way he's viewing - he's into positive thinking - the way he's viewing these negotations.' The president has doubled down on his tariff policy since the Oval Office confrontation. He announced in Pittsburgh on Friday that he would double - from 25 percent to 50 percent - import taxes on steel, to help the domestic industry as a 'planned partnership' between Japan's Nippon and the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel comes together. Later Friday he announced that he would be doubling the tariff on aluminum imports as well. The administration is asking countries to submit their best proposals to combat Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs by this Wednesday, as the 90-day pause ends on July 8. Only one trade deal has been fully inked thus far - the one with Great Britain. 'There's no way to convince him that he's losing,' the former adviser said. 'He's winning, no matter what, he's going to win.' 'I also think that because it comes from Wall Street itself, which is part of the elite ... that also pissed him off,' the source added. 'He's smarter than Wall Street, he's smarter than the Wall Street Journal, he's smarter than Bloomberg and he believes they're fundamentally wrong on this.' Democrats believe the 'TACO' moniker is potent politics, with the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday branding a taco truck on Capitol Hill with a picture of Trump in a chicken suit. The truck was located several blocks away from the Republican National Committee's headquarters in an effort to troll them. 'Donald Trump is like the bad boss we've all had - he comes up with dumb ideas, blames everybody else when they fail, and we all laugh behind his back,' DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. 'With his idiotic trade policy, he talks a big game, caves, and then leaves working families and small businesses to deal with the fallout,' Martin continued. 'Trump always chickens out - we're just bringing the tacos to match.' The RNC dubbed the effort lame. 'LMFAO. This is the jankiest excuse for a taco truck I've ever seen,' the RNC's Communications Director Zach Parkinson told the Daily Mail via email. 'Are they going to be giving out free vasectomies again too?' Parkinson was referencing a Planned Parenthood Great Rivers of St. Louis truck that made an appearance in August in Chicago alongside the Democratic National Convention.
Washington Post
20-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
How much did Mideast countries promise to invest in the US? Trump keeps jacking up the number
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump loves big numbers — and he's always happy to talk them up. Trump, who coined the phrase 'truthful hyperbole' in his book 'The Art of the Deal,' over the last few days has been steadily increasing the amount of money he says that countries in the Mideast pledged to invest in the U.S. when he visited the region last week. He didn't provide underlying details.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For Putin, 'US is the main enemy,' Estonian foreign minister says
TALLINN, ESTONIA – Estonia's top diplomat thinks Russia's war on Ukraine goes well beyond the front lines. "This is not about Europe. I think that for Putin and for Russia, the U.S. is the main enemy, like historically," Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Fox News in an exclusive interview in Estonia's capital, Tallinn. "He has a plan to restore the Soviet empire, and this is exactly what he's doing. Ukraine is just one example," he added. Nine years ago, Tsahkna, then serving as Estonia's defense minister, watched as 120,000 Russian soldiers massed just across the border, ready to invade his country in just 48 hours. Warning To Trump Nuclear Negotiators About Deceptive Iran Version Of 'Art Of The Deal' "Now these troops are gone. They were sent to Ukraine, and they are literally dead," Tsahkna spoke from the foreign ministry Wednesday, where he now serves as Estonia's top diplomat. Read On The Fox News App "At the moment, I don't expect any kind of the full-scale military aggression against NATO because Russia is running out of power in Ukraine, to be honest," Tsahkna added. "Economically, they're very weak, but of course, we see that Russia is preparing again." Estonia is not taking any chances. To ward off any potential invasion on NATO's eastern flank, Estonia recently announced it would spend over 5% of its GDP on defense next year, a goal President Donald Trump has requested from all NATO countries. Europe Steps Up To Fund Its Own Defense, Provide Security For Ukraine After Trump Threats On Wednesday, Estonia officially welcomed the arrival of six HIMARS satellite-guided rocket systems made in the United States. It's a weapon that has been used in Ukraine effectively, destroying targets up to 186 miles away. "We have created, as Estonians, the rule that if the U.S. is investing $1, we are adding $10 on top of that. And all this going back to [sic] goes back to the U.S. economy, and we are getting the capabilities," Tsahkna said. In recent weeks, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland announced they would withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of anti-personnel land mines. Russia, which is not party to the treaty, has deployed mines in the roughly 20% of Ukraine it now occupies. Estonia is a small country of 1.3 million people located in Eastern Europe, with an area about twice the size of New Jersey, It shares a 214-mile border with Russia. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, Estonia has cut off all energy imports from Russia. Today, it receives 80% of its natural gas from the United States. Not all countries have been as defiant. The 27-nation European Union, of which Estonia is a member, has only cut 60% of its energy imports from Russia. Last year, the European Union spent more on Russian oil and gas than aid to Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute. The Kremlin is also waging war on another front as well. "Russia is using religion of the church as a tool for their own political goals," Tsahkna said. The foreign minister also weighed in on Russia's proposed three-day ceasefire surrounding its May 9 celebrations marking the end of World War II. "This is not that serious," Tsahkna replied. Russia Declares 3-Day Ceasefire In Ukraine For Wwii Victory Day Since late 2023, nearly a dozen undersea cables in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland have been cut. Russia is suspected but "it's very hard to say exactly," Tsahkna said. Over 14 people from Russia's so-called shadow fleet have been arrested. China is suspected of carrying out at least one act of sabotage as well. NATO deployed warships off the coast of Estonia in January, and since then no cables have been cut, officers told Fox while on two ships in the Gulf of Finland Tuesday. When asked about the prospects of a ceasefire and eventual end of hostilities in Ukraine, Tsahkna replied with a warning: "President Trump has said very clearly that he wants to have peace. The Ukraine [sic] people want to have a [sic] peace – and I think that this is something that Putin doesn't want." Tsahkna does not believe Putin would ever use nuclear weapons, calling such a move "political suicide." "He's just brutal, but also sometimes, from the Western part of the world, we are too weak," Tsahkna added. "Putin is playing with our fears."Original article source: For Putin, 'US is the main enemy,' Estonian foreign minister says
