Trump’s tariff playbook comes with a baseball twist

Say what you like about U.S. President Donald Trump’s leadership style and policies, but he has a way with words.

Trump’s love of deal-making and former career as a real estate magnate are both well-known, with the loquacious president often peppering his speeches and interviews with business-related terminology. Now, he’s turning to the sports world for inspiration when discussing the U.S.’ recent trade deals with global trading partners.

In a Tuesday interview with CNBC, the president likened billions of dollars’ worth of investments in the U.S. — pledged by Europe and Japan as part of their recent trade deals with Washington — to the “signing bonus” baseball players typically get when they join new teams.

“We’re taking in trillions of dollars,” Trump told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” noting “people love the tariffs, they love the trade deals, and they love that foreign countries aren’t ripping us off anymore.”

“If you look at Japan, we’re taking in $550 billion, and that’s like a signing bonus that a baseball player would get. He would get slightly less than that … But they give a signing bonus of a million dollars, or $2 million or $20 million, or whatever the hell they give today,” he said.

“So I got a signing bonus from Japan of $550 billion. That’s our money. It’s our money to invest, as we like.” He also noted the European Union’s pledge to both invest in the U.S. and  buy $750 billion worth of American energy.

The EU and U.S. announced a trade deal in late July with the agreement bringing import tariffs down to 15%. In addition, Washington said the EU “will purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy and make new investments of $600 billion in the United States, all by 2028.”

No other information was forthcoming on the promised investment, however. When CNBC anchors on Tuesday asked for more clarity, Trump said, “the details are $600 billion to invest in anything I want, anything, I can do anything I want with it.”

Asked what would happen if the investments did not come through, Trump said, “Well, then they pay tariffs at 35%. No, no. They brought down their tariffs.”

Speaking anecdotally, the White House leader said that representatives from other nations had asked why the EU had received a lower levy.

“And I said, ‘Well, because [the EU] gave me $600 billion.’ And that’s a gift — that’s not a loan. There’s nothing to pay back. They gave us $600 billion that we can invest in anything we want.”

Similarly, the U.S.’ trade deal with Tokyo stated emphatically that “Japan will invest $550 billion directed by the United States to rebuild and expand core American industries.”

The White House said the funds will be targeted toward “the revitalization of America’s strategic industrial base,” including energy infrastructure and production, semiconductor manufacturing, critical minerals mining, pharmaceutical and medical production and commercial and defense shipbuilding, as the U.S. looks to reduce its reliance on foreign-made goods, materials and suppliers.