HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” dove straight into the economic chaos caused by Donald Trump’s disastrous tariffs, with host John Oliver highlighting how the president tanked the economy and followed that up with arrogant, threatening, and ultimately desperate attempts to calm panicked Americans. Those attempts included Trump and his minions’ mysterious claims that scores of unnamed countries are begging him to negotiate new trade deals.
“I’m sure some have been pretty nice to him,” Oliver said. “The same way you try to be nice if you suddenly found yourself in the same room as a monkey with a gun.”
Oliver ridiculed the haphazard exemptions Trump was forced to make—including for food products the U.S. cannot produce in sufficient quantities like coffee, oats, and spices.
“Sometimes it feels like the best way to ensure Trump does something is to tell him not to do it,” Oliver said. “He’s like a toddler, both because his brain is unable to grasp negations, and also because he has a short torso, huge head, always looks like he is about to fall over, and won’t let anyone brush his hair.”
Oliver proceeded to break down the Trump tariff plan’s fundamental incoherence as it drives up prices for Americans and obliterates our trading partners’ trust. Winning!