This week, Trump brought his cankles and permanently-bruised hands to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, where he delivered a rambling 75-minute speech in which he kept mixing up Iceland and Greenland, confusingly declared that the U.S. had achieved “peace in the Middle East,” and described being so annoyed by the female “prime minister” of Switzerland for repeatedly saying “no” that he raised tariffs.
First things first: Switzerland does not have a prime minister. The country is governed by a seven-member Federal Council, and each year, one of those members rotates into the largely ceremonial role of President of the Swiss Confederation. Trump appears to be referring to Karin Keller-Sutter, Switzerland’s finance minister, who held the role of president in 2025. The current “president” is Guy Parmelin. Let’s continue.
In August, Trump announced 39 percent tariffs on Swiss goods—which was way higher than the rates imposed on most other European countries—before eventually backing down. In his speech, he basically confirmed that it’s because Keller-Sutter pissed him off for arguing against the tariffs.
Trump on Switzerland: And the I guess prime minister called—a woman and she was very repetitive. She said, no, no, no…. She said, no, no, no, please, you cannot do it. Kept saying the same thing over and over. And she just rubbed me the wrong way. pic.twitter.com/grHzvnSklh
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2026
“And the I guess prime minister called—a woman, and she was very repetitive. She said, ‘no, no, no, you cannot do that, 30 per cent. You cannot do that. We are a small, small country,” Trump said, speaking about the original 30% tariff he placed on Swiss goods. “She said, ‘no, no, no, please, you cannot do it.’ Kept saying the same thing over and over. ‘We are a small country,’ she said, but you’re a big country in terms of… and she just rubbed me the wrong way, I’ll be honest with you.”
He continued: “And I said, ‘all right, thank you, ma’am. Appreciate it.’ ‘Do not do this.’ ‘Thank you very much.’ And I made it 39 percent.” He then said, “all hell really broke out,” and companies like Rolex wouldn’t stop bothering him, so he eventually cut the rate to…15%. He also said Switzerland—the country in which he was currently speaking—is “only good because of us,” before reiterating that Keller-Sutter was “so aggressive.”
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely sleeping easier knowing that global trade is being suffocated in the bruised hands of a 79-year-old kindergartener who raises tariffs out of sexism and then brags about it.
Like what you just read? You’ve got great taste. Subscribe to Jezebel, and for $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll get access to a bunch of subscriber benefits, including getting to read the next article (and all the ones after that) ad-free. Plus, you’ll be supporting independent journalism—which, can you even imagine not supporting independent journalism in times like these? Yikes.
