Donald Trump Thinks He Invented a Phrase That’s Been Around Since 1932 – Vanity Fair

By Molly Riley-Pool/Getty Images.

Last week, Donald J. Trump sat down for an interview with The Economist, which sort of feels like a kindergartner being interviewed by the The Paris Review. The chat covered a variety of issues, from trade to taxes to health care to immigration, and included some delightfully surreal moments, such as when the president claimed to have invented the phrase prime the pump. Herewith, the highlights:

Trumponomics, as it were, is about self-respect and winning: . . . it really has to do with self-respect as a nation. It has to do with trade deals that have to be fair, and somewhat reciprocal, if not fully reciprocal. And I think thats a word that youre going to see a lot of, because we need reciprocality in terms of our trade deals . . . We always lose. But were not going to lose any more.

He appears unaware of the fact that his own aides opened a back channel to Justin Trudeau to convince him not to withdraw from NAFTA: I was going to terminate NAFTA last week, I was all set, meaning the six-month termination. I was going to send them a letter, then after six months, its gone. But the word got out, they called and they said, we would really love to . . . they called separately but it was an amazing thing. They called separately 10 minutes apart. I just put down the phone with the president of Mexico when the prime minister of Canada called. And they both asked almost identical questions. We would like to know if it would be possible to negotiate as opposed to a termination. And I said, Yes, it is. Absolutely. So, so we did that and well start.

He possibly had no idea how old China is, until president Xi Jinping gave him a history lesson; now, hes really excited to show off that knowledge: [Our] relationship with China is long. Of course by China standards, its very short [laughter], you know when Im with [Xi Jinping], because hes great, when Im with him, hes a great guy. He was telling me, you know they go back 8,000 years, we have 1776 is like modern history. They consider 1776 like yesterday and they, you know, go back a long time.

Hes totally flexible, but he wont give any examples of said flexibility for publication: Nobody, you know, I always use the word flexibility, I have flexibility. [Goes off the record.]

He thinks he coined the phrase prime the pump, which has in fact been used since 1932, with the creation of President Herbert Hoover's Reconstruction Finance Corporation (this exchange really must be read in full):

The Economist: But beyond that its O.K. if the tax plan increases the deficit?

Trump: It is O.K., because it wont increase it for long. You may have two years where youll . . . you understand the expression prime the pump?

Trump: We have to prime the pump.

The Economist: Its very Keynesian.

Trump: Were the highest-taxed nation in the world. Have you heard that expression before, for this particular type of an event?

The Economist: Priming the pump?

Trump: Yeah, have you heard it?

Trump: Have you heard that expression used before? Because I havent heard it. I mean, I just . . . I came up with it a couple of days ago, and I thought it was good. Its what you have to do.

The Economist: Its . . .

Trump: Yeah, what you have to do is you have to put something in before you can get something out.

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Donald Trump Thinks He Invented a Phrase That's Been Around Since 1932 - Vanity Fair