“I was trying to be funny. I wasn’t trying to be the boss,” US President Donald Trump said, after his “I’m the boss” remark to G7 leaders went viral, as he sought to explain the moment that drew global attention and laughter during the summit.
Trump made the remark during an interview on The Axios Show, where he explained that the comment was meant as a joke and had been taken out of context.
Recalling the moment, the host asked Trump, “You walked in and you said, ‘I’m the boss.’ How many of them would believe that?”
The US President said he was “just being funny” while walking into a room where world leaders were already seated, adding that the comment was never meant to be taken seriously but was widely picked up and circulated.
“All of them, but I was just being funny. What happened is they were all sitting and then I walked into the room,” Trump said.
He further said, “They are all well known figures, heads of the countries… I walked in and there were these leaders and I just looked at them and said, ‘I’m the boss.’ That was done as a joke. This thing got carried all over the world. I can’t believe it. I was trying to be funny. I wasn’t trying to be the boss.”
“You walked in and you said, ‘I’m the boss.’ How many of them believed that?”@POTUS: “All of them, but I was just being funny.” 😏 https://t.co/TuyS6ttu15 pic.twitter.com/KqzkKFWkrk
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 19, 2026
The US president drew laughs on Wednesday from his fellow G7 leaders for his quip as he walked into a meeting on the last day of their summit.
“I’m the boss,” Trump said as he strode into the morning session of the last day of the three-day G7 summit, with the other leaders already in their seats.
Amid laughter, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to take the comment with good humour. “How are you?” the French president asked.
“Good, thank you,” Trump had replied.
“I’m the boss.” 🤣
— @POTUS arrives for a working session at the G7 summit in France pic.twitter.com/BvAamZo0sD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 17, 2026
Right after his 80th birthday party celebrations, Trump headed to a summit in France of the G7 club of powerful democracies to dive into issues – Iran, Ukraine, trade and more – that have been sources of friction with allies he will be meeting.
The G7 countries take turns hosting and organising activities. France inherited the G7 presidency from Canada, last year’s summit host, and will pass it to the US in 2027.
The club’s first summit, in Rambouillet, France, in 1975, brought together the leaders of six nations – France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US- for brainstorming on how to speed their recovery from the sharpest economic slump since World War II. Canada joined the following year, making the G7.
(With inputs from agencies)
