Jimmy Kimmel sarcastically complimented President Donald Trump on Wednesday’s (April 9) Jimmy Kimmel Live!, saying, “The best thing Trump has ever done for America was undo the incredibly dumb thing he did.”
The late-night host was referencing the latest trade tariff drama, which saw Trump making a U-turn on Wednesday. After announcing his steep, widespread tariffs last week, the President has now paused the tariffs on all countries except for China for the next 90 days. The change came amid a plummeting stock market and potential economic crisis.
“It’s day 79 of Trump O’Mania,” Kimmel said at the top of Wednesday’s show. “It’s been fun watching this lunatic gamble our life savings this week. It’s like handing a social security check to your dog and sending it to Caesar’s Palace.”
He continued, “Trump this morning hit the snooze button on almost all those big beautiful tariffs he levied. He paused the tariffs for 90 days, which puts us at right around the 4th of July to blow things up again.”
“The world of finance was relieved, to say the least,” the comedian added. “The market shot way up today. The S&P had its biggest day since 2008, Wall Street was up 12%. Think about that, the best thing Trump has ever done for America was undo the incredibly dumb thing he did.”
“Imagine if he quit, he could usher in a whole new era of prosperity,” Kimmel quipped.
“And now, our job I guess is to sit back and watch him take credit for ‘solving’ the financial crisis he created,” he continued. “The Dow is still down more than 1600 points from where it was when he started this unnecessary mess. And if you’re a small business owner who’s worried about having to close up shop because of unpredictable costs, President Trump would like you to know, he won a golf tournament this weekend.”
Kimmel went on to say how it’s “been fun” watching the White House trying to spin Trump’s U-turn as some sort of master plan.
“The White House is trying to play this like it was some grand strategy, like this was the plan all along,” he added. “Bottom line, this was not his plan. He probably didn’t even have a plan. He’s riffing… he’s tariffing through the whole thing is what he’s doing.”
You can watch Kimmel’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35 pm ET/PT, ABC
