Trump Official Compares BBC's Victoria Derbyshire To 'Kindergartner' In Extraordinary Tariffs Clash

A Donald Trump official has compared Victoria Derbyshire to a “kindergartner” for asking questions about the new US tariffs in an extraordinary clash.

The US president unveiled a “reciprocal” 10% tariff on British imports last night – on top of a 25% surcharge on all car and steel imports.

This new rate has been pitched as the “baseline”, and some other trading partners were hit with much higher tariffs.

The EU now has a 20% tax on its imports to the US while China has a staggering 54% tax.

The US president’s deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka told BBC Newsnight presenter Derbyshire that Britain should therefore be grateful.

As she asked probing questions about what this means for the US-UK relationship, he said: “I find it strange that you’ve been afforded such an exceptional status and you’re complaining? I’m not sure I understand that.”

Derbyshire asked what the UK needed to do to get the tariffs dropped, to which he said: “If you don’t discriminate against US goods, then the other partner – in which case the UK – will not have their goods discriminated against.

“It’s very, very simple. A kindergartner should be able to get that.”

He then quoted the bible, “do unto others as you would wish to have done unto yourself”, to explain Trump’s dramatic plan to reset international trade.

The presenter then asked if Trump had just started a global trade war “which makes everyone poorer”.

The American official replied: “This zero-sum game thing is really quite amusing.

“This is about equitable relations for everyone’s exports. I don’t understand how this is difficult for you to understand. Is this complicated for you to understand?”

The presenter, who kept a straight face throughout this exchange, even quoted from Yale University researchers warning that the cost of tariffs will trickle down to Americans.

But Gorka hit back: “Are these the same experts who warned you that masks will save you from Covid and it didn’t come from a lab?”

He claimed Trump’s new tariffs are a reset but will not be in place “forever”.

The interview had got off to a bad start, as Derbyshire questioned how “special” the relationship between the US and the UK really is – at which Gorka said: “Can I finish my sentences or are you going to do the usual BBC thing?”

He later threatened to “curtail” the interview unless Derbyshire stopped cutting in, warning her: “Don’t do it again.”

Watch the full exchange here: