“Dear Mr. Japan”: Trump forgets Japanese leader’s name while threatening 25% car tariff
During a Fox News interview on June 29, 2025, President Donald Trump said he planned to send a tariff letter addressed to “Mr. Japan,” a comment that many interpreted as him forgetting the Japanese Prime Minister’s name. The moment quickly went viral, drawing comparisons to Trump’s past flubs like “Tim Apple,” and reigniting concerns over his cognitive fitness. Critics noted the double standard in how Trump’s gaffes are received compared to similar slips by former President Biden, with some calling the moment “insane” and “disqualifying.”
Who the heck is Mr. Japan?
During an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday, Trump spoke of letters he might send to the heads of foreign states about his tariffs going back into effect, choosing Japan as an example.
"Dear Mr. Japan: Here’s the story,” he said. “You’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars."
Trump claimed that Japan sells the U.S. far more vehicles than the nation buys from us, even though they build twice as many cars within our borders as they import. Instead, he appears to be using the threat of tariffs to pressure Japan to buy our oil.
"Now, we have oil. They could take a lot of oil," he added. "They could take a lot of other things."
Of course, cars made by Japan in the U.S. won't be impacted by the tariffs, so it's not much of a threat. All he really did was give his critics fodder to poke at something that would have flooded Fox News' programming if a Democratic president had said it.
Critics slam "Mr. Japan" flub as sign of cognitive decline
Many left-wing voters remember well how the Republicans and much of the media treated former President Joe Biden's apparent cognitive decline during his time in the White House, especially during the 2024 election. The lack of consistency when it comes to the treatment of Trump is once again driving them up the wall.
"If President Biden started a sentence with 'Dear Mr. Japan,' Republicans would never shut up about it and '25th Amendment' is all they'd be talking about," said popular liberal X user @mmpadellan. "This is f*cking INSANE."
"If Joe Biden referred to the Prime Minister of Japan as 'Mr. Japan' there would be a dozen books detailing his cognitive decline published before the day was out," wrote Biden appointee Andrew Weinstein on Bluesky.
"Imagine if Joe Biden forgot the name of the Japanese prime minister and called him Mr Japan," suggested @Wilson__Valdez on X. "I'm sure everyone would be really normal about it."
Others focused solely on Trump, bringing his fitness for leadership into question.
"Trump has no clue who the Prime Minister of Japan is so he calls him 'Mr. Japan' in the interview. How can you negotiate with somebody if you don’t know their name?" asked @MAGALieTracker.
"His brain is peanut butter," declared @Spiker715.
"So silly of Trump to refer to the Japanese Prime Minister as 'Mr. Japan.' when everyone knows his name is Mr. Roboto. And he didn't every bother to say 'domo arigato,'" joked @prchovanec.bsky.social.
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