English transcript

It's worked in Japan, it's worked in Korea,

you did the deal with Europe, you did the deal

with the UK. What's sort of out there that's

still there?

I think India's kind of still out there, although

it seems like they're capitulating a little

bit. I saw that they just bought a lot of liquefied

petroleum gas from the United States in November.

What are the big sort of hot button places that

you want to... I'll tell you a story about India.

So, um, if you remember... So I did the first

deal, the UK deal. And we told the UK that they

had to get it done by two Fridays from now.

That that was the date. That the train was going

to leave the station by two Fridays... ...because

I have a lot of other countries doing things

and, you know, if someone else is first, they're

first. And President Trump does deals like a

staircase. First stair gets the best deal. You

can't get the best deal after the first guy

went. Everyone says, "I want the UK deal, I

want the UK deal." The answer is, No, they were

first. They took the chance, they moved quickest,

they're first. Second, up a stair. So that sets

the floor. Right. And then the next one's got

to be higher. And then the next one higher,

and then the next one higher, and the next one

higher. So he does things that way because that

way it incents you to come to the table. To

act quickly. Right. Right?

You could have three countries who are the second

deal, if they all get done at the same time.

Right. But you, you know, if you want to wait

and see how it goes, that's at your risk. So,

he does the UK deal. And they had to get it

done by Friday. And Thursday afternoon, Keir

Starmer is on the phone, the President. We have,

they do their deal, Wednesday night, and on

Thursday we have a press conference and we announce

it. Okay. So everybody asked the President,

"Who do you think is next?" And if you look

back at that time, he said, he talks about a

variety of countries but he names India a couple

of times. Publicly. It's not, it's not like

a big secret. And we were talking to India.

And we told India, "You had three Fridays."

You put 'em on a shot clock. Well, they have

to get it done because what happens is I have

lots of other countries... ...and when those

other countries do their deal... The staircase

goes up. Right. And... Yeah. Now, the President,

during all these deals, he would refer to me

as the greatest table setter who ever lived.

Okay?

Because you've never had anybody who was as

successful as me as a businessman before...

...who's just the table setter, basically. You

know, so, 'cause what I would do is I would

negotiate the contracts... ...and set the whole

deal up. But let's be clear. It's his deal.

Yeah. Okay?

He's the closer. He does the deal. So I said,

"You gotta have Modi. It's all set up. You have

to have Modi call the President." And they were

uncomfortable doing it. So Modi didn't call.

Wow. So that Friday left. In the middle of the

next week, we did Indonesia, the Philippines,

right?

Vietnam. We announced a whole bunch of deals.

Malaysia, in that period. So, we did these whole

bunch of deals, so that's like... That staircase.

And because we negotiated them and assumed India

was going to be done before them... I had negotiated

them at a higher rate. So now the problem is,

the deals came out at a higher rate. Right.

And then India calls back and says, "Oh, okay,

we're, we're ready." I said, "Ready for what?"

You know, it was like three weeks later. I go,

"Are you ready for the train that left the station

three weeks ago?" So, what happened is they

just, you know, there's sometimes there's that

seesaw... ...and people are on just the wrong

side of the seesaw. You know, when I was a,

when I was a young, uh... ...when I was young

in business and I was a trader... ...so one

of my first jobs was as a trader. And when I

would start on the wrong side of the seesaw...

...you know, I'd buy and it would go down. And

then I'd sell and it would go up. And then I'd

buy and it would go down and sell... Like, when

you're on the right side of the seesaw... ...you

can't lose. You know, you buy, it goes up. And

then you sell and it goes down. And you buy,

it goes up, and sell, it goes down. And you

feel like you're the king. But when you're on

the wrong side of the seesaw, what I used to

do... ...is I used to put the phone down. I

used to go in the bathroom... ...fill a bucket

with water, take a rag, and I would wash the

plants in the office. 'Cause it was much cheaper

than me picking up the phone. So, and then,

and then people would call and say, you know,

"Can I speak to Howard?" And they go, "No, he's

in a meeting." And meanwhile they'd look up

and there I am washing the plants. 'Cause whatever

I did, I would get back in there and I'd touch

it, and it would go the wrong way. So what happened

is, India just was, you know, on the wrong side

of the seesaw. And it wasn't... it was just

they couldn't get it done when they needed to.

And then they couldn't get it done. And then

they couldn't get it done. And then they couldn't

get it done. And so what happened is all these

other countries kept doing deals... ...and they're

just further in the back of the line. And now

when they say, "But, but what I want..." "...is

I want the deal in between the UK and Vietnam..."

"...because that's what I negotiated." Right.

And they, and they remember. And I remember.

And they say, "But, but you agreed!" And I said,

"Then." Then. Not now. Then. And so that's,

that's the problem. India will work it out.

But it's just, you know, there's a lot of countries...

...and, and they each have their own deep internal

politics. And to get something approved by their

parliament or their diet or their... ...you

know, these are deeply complex things. And,

and we're dealing with the world. But we've

gotten them done. You know, we got Europe done,

right?

We did Japan, then we did Europe... ...then

we did Korea. And, and we've done country after

country after country. And, uh, and these are

durable. Meaning, these are deals... ...that

take care of the countries' autos, pharmaceuticals...

...semiconductors, you know, things that really

matter.