'Keep Japanese cars out and respect will roll in': Trump's 1995 interview viral amid tariff chaos

A resurfaced 1995 interview featuring then-businessman Donald Trump has been circulating widely online, with many noting how closely his views from nearly three decades ago mirror his actions as US President.

In the interview, Trump delivered a scathing assessment of US trade policy, particularly with Japan, accusing American negotiators of weakness and calling a then-recent auto trade agreement a major loss for the country.

“I couldn’t believe this last auto deal,” Trump says in the clip. “It’s restricted in Japan… we do the old fold-out.” He criticises how quickly the United States conceded in the negotiations, despite holding, in his words, “all the cards.” Trump laments that American negotiators feared taking a strong stance, which he describes as a “no-brainer.”


“They're afraid politically to make a little bit of a tough stand,” he says, adding that “you would have had the Japanese cars out for 19 and a half seconds and you would have won every single point.”

Trump argues that tougher negotiating would earn more global respect. “I think the Japanese would respect us far more than they do. I don’t think they have any respect for us.”

Social media users are calling the clip evidence that Trump has stayed consistent with his “America first” ideology, long before he entered politics.

During his first term, Trump launched a trade war with China and imposed new tariffs. In his second term, he has doubled down on policies of economic protectionism and stricter immigration control.