First Lady Melania Trump (C) (C) greets military members and their families during a military family picnic on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on July 4, 2025, and looks at U.S. President Donald Trump while saying hello to the military and their families.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Say you like the leadership style and policies of our President Donald Trump, but he has a way of speaking.
Trump’s love for deals and his previous career as a real estate tycoon are well known, and President Loquacious often speaks and interviews on business-related terms. Now, he is turning to inspiration for sports while discussing recent U.S. trade deals with global trading partners.
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, the president put billions of dollars in investment in the U.S. (by Europe and Japan) as part of their recent trade deal with Washington, a “signing bonus” baseball player he received when joining a new team.
“We are charging trillions of dollars,” Trump told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and noted that “people like tariffs, they like trade deals, they like foreign countries no longer lie to us. ”
“If you look at Japan, we’re going to get $500 billion in revenue, which is like the signing bonus that a baseball player gets. His signing amount is slightly lower…but they give a one million dollar signing bonus, or $20 million or $20 million, or whatever hell they’re given today.”
“So, I got a $550 billion signing bonus from Japan. It’s our money. We hope it’s the money we invested.” He also pointed out that the EU’s commitment to invest in the United States and to buy US$750 billion worth of US energy.
The EU and the United States announced a trade deal in late July that reduced import tariffs to 15%. In addition, Washington said the EU “will buy $750 billion in U.S. energy in the United States and make $600 billion in new investment by 2028.”
However, there is no other information about the committed investment. When the CNBC host asked for a clearer look on Tuesday, Trump said: “The details are $600 billion investing anything I want, anything I want, I can use it to do whatever I want.”
When asked what would happen if the investment didn’t pass, Trump said: “Well, they paid the tariffs at a 35% rate. No, no. They lowered the tariffs.”
The White House leader said anecdotally that representatives from other countries asked why the EU imposed a lower tax.
“I said, ‘Well, because (the EU) gave me $600 billion.’ It’s a gift – it’s not a loan.
Similarly, the U.S. trade agreement with Tokyo emphasize “Japan will invest $550 billion to rebuild and expand its core U.S. industries.”
The White House said the funds will target “a revitalization of the U.S. strategic industrial base”, including energy infrastructure and production, semiconductor manufacturing, critical mineral extraction, pharmaceutical and medical production, and commercial and defense shipyards, as the U.S. hopes to reduce its reliance on foreign products, materials, materials, materials, materials, materials, materials, materials, materials, materials and suppliers.
