Wall Street Journal: EU official used colorful, simplified cue cards in trade meeting with Trump

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly used colorful cards with simple explanations to discuss trade policies during his Wednesday meeting with President Trump.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Juncker relied on more than a dozen of the cards while explaining trade topics to Trump, including automotive trade, ahead of their Rose Garden announcement to hold formal trade talks.

“We knew this wasn’t an academic seminar. It had to be very simple,” a senior European Union official told The Journal.

{mosads}Juncker and Trump emerged from the meeting with a handshake deal to avoid a trade war between the U.S. and the EU.

The leaders announced that they would work toward zero tariffs, and the EU agreed to increase U.S. soybean imports and decrease industrial tariffs.

Trump backed off from his threat to slap hefty tariffs on automotive imports as part of the agreement.

The president claimed on Wednesday that “basically, we opened up Europe” to U.S. imports, despite no formal agreement being reached.

“We just opened up Europe for you farmers. You’re not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you,” Trump said at a jobs event in Peosta, Iowa the day after the meeting.