Washington –

U.S. President Trump said Wednesday that he does not want to see United States Steel go to Japan, signaling his opposition to Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel's plan to fully acquire the U.S. peer.

Trump told White House reporters that U.S. Steel is a special company, throwing cold water on expectations that Nippon Steel's buyout efforts might start to make progress after the president ordered a fresh screening of the deal Monday.

The United Steelworkers labor union and others have expressed opposition to the acquisition plan, and former U.S. President Joe Biden in January ordered the deal to be scrapped, citing national security concerns.

Trump has also expressed his opposition to the deal after taking office, saying he would not allow a full acquisition.

Meanwhile, Nippon Steel is sticking to its policy of aiming for a complete acquisition. It is continuing to lobby the U.S. government while filing a lawsuit with a U.S. court to nullify Biden's order.

Trump mentioned U.S. Steel on Wednesday while touting the benefits of his administration's additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, introduced last month. He said the domestic steel industry is receiving many orders as a result of the levies.

He also said he doesn’t want U.S. Steel bought by "any other place,” apparently referring to other foreign buyers.

"I mean, if you go back to U.S. Steel from 90 years ago, it was incredible, it was the number one company in the world for a long time,” Trump said. "That’s why we don’t want to see it go to Japan, and we love Japan but U.S. Steel is a very special company.”

U.S. Steel shares tumbled as much as 16% in post-market trading after Trump made a fresh remark against the buyout.

Investors had in recent days boosted U.S. Steel shares to the highest level since March 2024 on hopes that Trump would reverse Biden’s decision.