Some have compared Donald Trump’s letter to the Japanese prime minister to something a schoolchild might write.
In a recent letter, the US president informed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that the US was imposing 25 percent tariffs on Japanese exports and threatened to increase them if Japan chose to impose a similar levy.
We all recall how that one ended last time, don’t we? Trump has also warned nations in a number of other letters that tariffs would be applied.
In any case, others have criticized the letter for appearing to have been written by “a fifth grader.” In the UK, fifth grade is roughly equivalent to Year Six, so for those of you who are unsure, we’re talking about literacy skills from primary school.
This was written today by the President of the United States, not a 5th grader.
Incredible. pic.twitter.com/nZPzXyvig7
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) July 7, 2025
It’s the kind of thing that would cause a subeditor in any newsroom throughout the nation to have a nervous breakdown. As he informs the Japanese PM that the US has the ‘Number One Market in the World’ as if it were a movie title, it is obvious that he is someone who enjoys using capital letters as if they were becoming obsolete.
Trump appears to believe that words like “Trade Deficit” and “Tariff” require capitalization. At one point, he writes “TRADE” in all caps as if he were shouting it out of the page to emphasize his argument.
The letter reads as though it was written by someone rushing through an assignment to get to circle time, which has disappointed but not surprised those who have read it.
Someone said that the letter was “painful to read” and that they were wondering “what the f**k is up with all the unnecessary capitalizations.” Another person remarked that they observed “so many grammatical errors in this letter, it would not pass a first-year English class.”
“Words fail him,” was the third person’s reaction to the letter, which, if given to a teacher, would be covered in highlighter and would read, “See you after class.”
While some expressed concern about the letter’s content, which indicated that tariffs were once again on the table and bemoaned the fact that the US president “doesn’t understand how trade deficits work,” others suggested that we shouldn’t “disrespect fifth graders like this” by comparing their literacy skills to Donald Trump’s. ‘Christ’ was all that one individual said in the meantime.
Trump’s letter to Japan is pure clown show. Threats, bad grammar, zero diplomacy. He’s wrecking decades of trust over a trade deficit he doesn’t even understand. And for what? pic.twitter.com/WK7wa1iTKN
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 7, 2025
Donald Trump’s speaking abilities have previously been likened to those of a fifth grader. According to indy100, an examination of his speeches during the 2024 election revealed that he was primarily speaking at a fifth- or sixth-grade level.
However, given that the average American reading age is sixth grade, this isn’t always a negative thing. However, you would think that letters to heads of state would read less like his articles on Truth Social.
