Jen Psaki opened her MSNBC program Wednesday night with smug certainty—and by Thursday morning, she was eating her words.
“So it’s been more than a month,” Psaki said, rolling her eyes. “Mr. Art of the Deal, as he calls himself, has not yet struck a single trade deal. Not a single one with any single country.”
Just hours later, President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a sweeping, historic trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom—delivering a direct and embarrassing rebuttal to Psaki’s primetime mockery.
The announcement was made on the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, marking a renewed alliance between the two nations and a major milestone for Trump’s second-term trade policy. “This is a great deal for America,” the president said. “The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.”
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The agreement eliminates long-standing trade barriers and secures preferential treatment for American products in the UK. Key sectors benefiting from the pact include agriculture, aerospace, and pharmaceuticals—three pillars of the U.S. economy that Trump has repeatedly pledged to strengthen.
According to the White House, the deal opens over $5 billion in new opportunities for U.S. exporters. That includes $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million in beef and related agricultural products. Trump emphasized that the agreement dismantles regulatory hurdles that had unfairly targeted U.S. goods, calling it “one of the strongest trade victories in American history.”
UK Prime Minister Starmer echoed the president’s optimism, saying the deal would “boost trade between and across our countries” and create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
Among the more notable provisions: the UK will remove tariffs that once soared as high as 125% on American meat and dairy. In return, the U.S. will adopt a two-tiered tariff structure on British automobiles—10% on the first 100,000 vehicles imported each year, and 25% on imports beyond that threshold.
Also included is a landmark “trading union” for steel and aluminum. The measure aims to stabilize industrial markets and phase out the controversial Section 232 tariffs through mutual cooperation. Trump said negotiations are ongoing to replace those tariffs with a streamlined bilateral framework.
The deal comes at a pivotal moment for U.S. trade strategy. It follows another, less finalized agreement with India just weeks earlier and precedes tense negotiations with China in Switzerland. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled that Beijing is feeling the squeeze of aggressive 145% tariffs and warned that relief would not come without substantial reforms.
Thursday’s deal marks a clear win for Trump’s “America First” trade doctrine—and a humiliating misfire for Jen Psaki, who mocked the president’s negotiation record just as he was finalizing one of the biggest trade breakthroughs of the year.
