Juncker used ‘brightly coloured, simple flashcards’ to explain trade to Trump during meeting

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly used brightly coloured flash cards to explain international trade to US president Donald Trump.

The pair met at the White House earlier this week for trade negotiations and Mr Juncker used cards with simple language and easy-to-understand explanations, according to a senior EU official who was at the meeting and spoke to the Wall Street Journal.

“Each card had at most three figures about a specific topic, such as trade in cars or standards for medical devices,” the paper reported.

The official said the EU team of negotiators was aware it was “not an academic seminar”.

The meeting, according to the senior EU official, went well with Mr Trump appearing “charming” and “well-briefed”.

Mr Juncker took the opportunity, according to the official, to tell the US leader both sides should stop with retaliatory tariffs since it only hurts domestic producers.

“If you want to be stupid, I can be stupid, as well,” Mr Juncker said.

After the meeting, Mr Trump announced he would not increase tariffs on European cars. The EU also said it would buy more US soybeans and liquefied natural gas.

The pair held a joint press conference and said they would "work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods."

During the course of the three-hour meeting, Mr Trump appeared to have changed his mind after calling the EU his “foe” just weeks ago at the G7 meeting in Montreal, Canada, and the North Atlantic Organisation Treaty (Nato) meeting in Brussels.

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Voters will have to choose from 11,000 candidates to elect 272 members of the Parliament for the next term. These elections are the second in Pakistan's history in which a government was able to complete its term to make way for another government after being ruled by military dictators for half of the 71 years of its existence since its founding in 1947 EPA 4/51 24 July 2018 A woman reacts as she tries to find her dog, following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece. At least 60 people are thought to have been killed Reuters 5/51 23 July 2018 A house is threatened by a huge blaze during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens. 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Israel's parliament approved a controversial piece of legislation that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people but which critics warn sidelines minorities AP 10/51 18 July 2018 The 12 boys and their soccer coach who were rescued from a flooded cave arrive for a news conference in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand Reuters 11/51 17 July 2018 President Barack Obama delivers the 16th Nelson Mandela annual lecture, marking the centenary of the anti-apartheid leader's birth, in Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters 12/51 16 July 2018 French supporters celebrate on the Champs Elysees their team's victory after the World Cup 2018 final between France and Croatia EPA 13/51 15 July 2018 Hugo Lloris lifts the trophy after France beat Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final in the Luzhniki Stadium in Russia AP 14/51 14 July 2018 Germany's Angelique Kerber beat seven-time champion US player Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final. 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Syria's army entered rebel-held parts of Daraa city, state media said, raising the national flag in the cradle of the uprising that sparked the country's seven-year war, following a deal for rebels to hand over their heavy weapons in Daraa al-Balad and other opposition-held parts of the city AFP 17/51 11 July 2018 US President Donald Trump and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend a bilateral breakfast ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels Reuters 18/51 10 July 2018 The last four Thai Navy SEALs come out safely after completing the rescue mission inside a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. Thailand's navy SEALs say all 12 boys and their soccer coach have been rescued from a flooded cave in far northern Thailand, ending an ordeal that lasted more than two weeks Royal Thai Navy via AP 19/51 9 July 2018 Indonesia worker and firefighters try to extinguish a fire on fishing boats at Benoa harbour in Denpasar, on Indonesia's resort island of Bali. A massive fire laid waste to dozens of boats at a Bali port as firefighters battled to bring the dramatic blaze under control Getty 20/51 8 July 2018 Russia's football team are greeted celebrated by fans during a visit at the Moscow's fan zone after they were knocked out of the World Cup in their quarter final match against Croatia on penalties Getty 21/51 7 July 2018 Residents look over the flooded town by heavy rain in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, western Japan. Heavy rainfall killed 47 people, missing more than 49 people and five others in serious condition in southwestern and western Japan, public television reported on 07 July 2018. Japan Meteorological Agency has warned record rainfall on 06 July for flooding, mudslides in southwestern and western Japan. In nine prefectures in western and southwestern Japan, authorities issued evacuation orders to more than one million of people in southwestern and western Japan EPA 22/51 6 July 2018 An honour guard hold up a picture of Samarn Kunan, 38, a former member of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit who died working to save 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped inside a flooded cave, at an airport in Rayong province, Thailand Reuters 23/51 5 July 2018 The International Space Station, center, passes in front of the Moon in its Earth orbit as photographed from Salgotarjan, Hungary MTI via AP 24/51 4 July 2018 Former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak (C) arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak appeared in court to face graft charges linked to the the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal EPA 25/51 3 July 2018 Rescue workers come out from the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive according to a local media's report, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand Reuters 26/51 2 July 2018 Firefighters scramble to control flames surrounding a fire truck as the Pawnee fire jumps across highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, California Getty 27/51 1 July 2018 Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador greets supporters as he arrives at a polling station during the presidential election in Mexico City Reuters 28/51 30 June 2018 North Korea leader Kim Jong Un inspects Unit 1524 of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA via Reuters 29/51 29 June 2018 Mount Agung's crater glows red from the lava as it spews volcanic smoke on Bali Island. The Indonesian tourist island closed its international airport, stranding thousands of travelers, as the Mount Agung volcano gushed a 2,500-meter (8,200-feet) column of ash and smoke AP 30/51 28 June 2018 The remains of market stalls smoulder after a fire swept through a marketplace in Nairobi, Kenya. Several people have died in the fire and about 70 are receiving hospital treatment, with rescue teams left searching through the scene AP 31/51 27 June 2018 Smoke rises in the rebel-held town of Nawa in southern Syria during airstrikes by Syrian regime forces. Syria's army launched an assault on the flashpoint southern city of Daraa state media said, after a week of deadly bombardment on the nearby countryside caused mass displacement. Government forces have set their sights on retaking the south of the country, a strategic area that borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights Getty 32/51 26 June 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron greets Pope Francis at the end of a private audience at the Vatican Getty 33/51 25 June 2018 The frame of an abandoned Peugeot 404 rests in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Once a well-worn roadway for overlander tourists, the highway 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) are a favored path for migrants heading north in hopes of a better life and more recently thousands who are being expelled south from Algeria AP 34/51 24 June 2018 Saudi women celebrate after they drove their cars in Al Khobar after the law allowing women to drive took effect. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from June 24, ending the world's only ban on female motorists Reuters 35/51 23 June 2018 People gather as the injured are helped by medics at the scene of an explosion during a rally to support the country's new reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports say the blast occurred shortly after he addressed thousands of his supporters. He then spoke to the crowd afterwards, saying a people had been killed EPA 36/51 22 June 2018 Participants of the Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim are seen in the River Derwent at dawn, in Hobart, Australia Reuters 37/51 21 June 2018 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in a mass yoga session along with other practitioners to mark International Yoga Day at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun. Tens of thousands of yoga practitioners worldwide on June 21 are expected to celebrate the fourth annual International Yoga Day, first proposed by the Indian PM in 2014 to the UN General Assembly and adopted unanimously Getty 38/51 20 June 2018 A woman and child are told they will have to wait before crossing the US border as confusion sets in following the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on immigration Getty 39/51 19 June 2018 People wave a banner with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a gathering of supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul, Turkey,. Turkish President Erdogan announced on 18 April that Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 June 2018, after elections were scheduled to be held in November 2019 EPA 40/51 18 June 2018 Residents pass by a temple gate collapsed by an earthquake in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan. The earthquake, which struck western Japan, killed three people and injured more than 50 EPA 41/51 17 June 2018 Juan Carlos Osorio, manager of Mexico's national football team, celebrates their World Cup victory against Germany Getty 42/51 16 June 2018 Kashmiri youths through stones during clashes between protestors and Indian government forces in Srinagar Getty 43/51 16 June 2018 People are silhouetted on the flybridge of a yacht as fireworks illuminates the sky over the Yas Viceroy luxury hotel on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr at the Marina on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi EPA 44/51 15 June 2018 Somali Muslims take part in Eid al-Fitr prayer which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan at the football pitch of the Jamacadaha stadium in Mogadishu Getty 45/51 14 June 2018 Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup in Russia ahead of the group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow Getty 46/51 13 June 2018 Pope Francis arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican Reuters 47/51 12 June 2018 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their historic meeting at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore Reuters 48/51 11 June 2018 US President Donald Trump looking at a cake being brought for him during a working lunch with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to The Istana, the official residence of the prime minister, in Singapore. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump will meet on June 12 for an unprecedented summit, with the US President calling it a "one time shot" at peace Getty 49/51 10 June 2018 Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), delivers a speech from the roof of a bus during a campaign meeting in Istanbul Getty 50/51 9 June 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking to US Presidend Donald Trump during the second day of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada. Looking on is US National Security Advisor John Bolton EPA 51/51

The de-escalation of trade tensions comes after Mr Trump increased tariffs on European steel and aluminium, to which the EU threatened to do the same on Kentucky bourbon, Levi’s jeans, and orange juice among other signature American products.

The EU official’s description of ‘dumbing things down’ for Mr Trump joins with his critics’ perception that he is not the most academic of presidents interested in nuances of diplomacy or crucial details of domestic policies.

On at least one occasion Mr Trump said, during a major fight in Congress over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, “nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated”.

He also did not understand the criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike about his performance during a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland, with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After the meeting, Mr Juncker said there was hope for lessening the tariffs on European steel and aluminium and noted he and Mr Trump “have a good personal relation”.