President Donald Trump claimed world leaders are “kissing my a**” in frantic attempts to dodge his sweeping global tariffs, during a fiery 90-minute speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner on Tuesday night.
“They are dying to make a deal,” Trump said, mocking unnamed world leaders as desperate supplicants pleading for tariff relief.
His remarks came just hours before a new wave of tariffs—some as high as 104% on Chinese imports—took effect at midnight.
The address, held at the National Building Museum in Washington, saw Trump ridicule foreign governments, rip into rebellious Republicans, and even revisit his bizarre campaign reference to fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter as a metaphor for illegal immigration.
Despite rising global backlash—including retaliatory tariffs from China and Canada—and market turmoil triggered by his “Liberation Day” tariffs last week, Trump remained defiant. “I know what the hell I’m doing,” he declared. “And you know what I’m doing too.”
Trump hinted at future levies on imported pharmaceuticals, claiming they would push companies to relocate production to the U.S.
Yet reports suggest confusion reigns globally, with some leaders’ calls for talks going unanswered by the White House.
