Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Monday he had a plan to buy U.S. Steel as he launched a tirade against Japan, calling the close U.S. ally “evil” during a news conference.

“I want to buy,” Goncalves told journalists at the Butler works plant in Pennsylvania. “I have a plan, I have an all-American solution in place. The all-American solution centers on people, on workers.”

Goncalves’ comments came after CNBC reported earlier Monday that Cleveland-Cliffs is…