President Donald Trump spent part of his Asia trip doing what he loves most — bragging about boasting. In front of reporters, he hailed what he called a brand-new $10 billion agreement with a major automaker, holding it up as proof that global companies were lining up to invest under his leadership.
But when Toyota publicly corrected the record, the boast that was meant to showcase Trump’s genius quickly turned into a moment of international humiliation.
Trump either made it up or mixed it up with a Toyota investment deal plan his first term in office eight years ago, according to company officials.
“Yesterday I was with Mr. Toyota in Japan, and he’s just announced he’s gonna spend, uh, they’re gonna spend $10 billion, and they’re gonna build new car plants,” Trump bragged while simultaneously butchering the name of company’s CEO, Akio Toyoda.
“And they’re gonna build ’em in numerous states, about six or seven different states,” he added during a news conference on Wednesday at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongjiu, South Korea.
It didn’t take Toyota long to dismantle Trump’s boast and turn it into an embarrasing ordeal that inadvertently highlights his penchant to misremember or outright change the facts.
“During the first Trump administration, I think the figure was roughly around $10 billion, so while we didn’t say the same scale, we did explain that we’ll keep investing and providing employment as before,” company executive Hiroyuki Ueda politely told reporters Wednesday.
“So, probably because of that context, the figure of about $10 billion came up. Therefore, we didn’t specifically say that we’ll invest $10 billion over the next few years,” Ueda said, adding that Toyota would continue to invest and create jobs in the U.S.
Toyota officials also clarified that company chairman Toyoda did not discuss new investments in the U.S. during a brief meeting with Trump in Tokyo at the U.S. Embassy.
The moment served as a brutal reminder of Trump’s self-proclaimed status as a “very stable genius,” a label he’s repeated since 2018 whenever his judgment comes under fire.
“Toyota was quick to pump the brakes on a claim Trump made this week regarding an alleged promise by the Japanese automaker to invest $10 billion in
”
“we didn’t specifically say that we’ll invest $10 billion over the next few years."
Imagine that. https://t.co/hrS2ff9hUe pic.twitter.com/ewcbNnSt0i
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) October 31, 2025
“Donald Trump claimed he met with ‘Mr. Toyota’ and told him he’s rich. Trump claimed he struck a $10 billion deal with Mr. Toyota. Toyota released a statement saying they didn’t agree to any amount, but that they spoke about how Toyota had invested $10 billion during his first administration. This man has completely lost it. BTW, Toyota invested around $20 billion during the Biden administration,” Threads user Betty Meister stated.
“And btw, HIS NAME IS NOT “Mr. TOYOTA!!”,” another Threads user pointed out.
Who among us hasn't confused $0 with $10,000,000,000 dollars?
Stable genius? Or habitual, pathological LIAR?#Trump #Toyota pic.twitter.com/X8XHVXroFg
— Meiguo
Stand With Ukraine
(@Meiguo_nan) October 30, 2025
“Dementia Don going off again,” Debarno14 asserted. Others were more concerned, “When you have to fact check everything someone says, albeit the President of the USA , we are truly screwed 
” said this user.
This critique hit the hardest, “OUCH: Toyota just HUMILIATED Trump on his Asia trip. When Trump bragged he got Toyota to invest $10B in new funding to America, Toyota executive Ueda quickly SHUT HIM DOWN, saying that number is actually ZERO”
“Toyota is not playing his games!!” this user proclaimed. While another declared, “The Emperor has no brain.”
X user Master Sam put it this way, “A typical Trump deal. All bullshit wrapped in arrogance topped with ridiculous made up lies. The US won’t make it through another 3 years of this nonsense.”
Trump met with Japan’s new prime minister and first female to ever hold the office, Sanae Takaichi, on Tuesday. Takaichi agreed to fast-track a military buildup, while also signing deals on trade and rare earth minerals, according to Reuters.
The White House also bragged about trade deals with China, except there’s no final agreement in place with the Chinese either.
Trump spent the week in Asia for meetings in Malaysia, Japan and a summit with China in South Korea.