President Donald Trump not only dropped the document but also confused the U.S. trading partner it was with while announcing an agreement had been finalized with the United Kingdom on Monday.
The president revealed the United States had signed a previously announced deal with the U.K. while standing alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 Summit in Canada.
But when the president held up the folder with the document, pages tumbled to the ground, and Starmer ended up having to reach down to pick the papers up as Trump looked on.
The 79-year-old president then proceeded to say that the agreement was with the European Union rather than the U.K.
“We just signed a document. This is—sorry about that,” Trump said as the papers hit the ground.
“Very important document,” Starmer chimed in with a smile as he picked the pages up.
Both men laughed as the president joked it was a little windy there, though it did not appear to be wind that forced the pages from his grasp.
“We just signed it, and it’s done, and so we have our trade agreement with the European Union, and it’s a fair deal for both,” Trump then said, mixing up the U.K. with the EU.
Neither leader revealed any details on what was in the deal, but Starmer called it a very important agreement on car tariffs and aerospace.
Trump also claimed there were many other deals coming.
The White House first announced that the U.S. and U.K. had reached a trade agreement early last month.
The fact sheet for that deal included more than $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million in other agricultural products. It also included a 10 percent tariff on the first 100,000 cars imported by the U.K. to the U.S. a year, and then a 25 percent tariff on any additional vehicles after that, as well as other details.
Asked if anything had changed in the deal since they spoke about it by phone this spring, the president said, “Not much.” The prime minister claimed the signed document would implement it.
An executive order released by the White House on the deal on Monday also said the U.K. is committed to working to meet U.S. requirements regarding steel and aluminum product supply chain security. If it meets those requirements, “the United States intends to promptly construct a quota at most-favored-nation rates for steel and aluminum articles.”
In response to a question about steel tariffs on Monday, the president told reporters in Canada that the administration would let them have that information “in a little while.”
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