Late-night hosts talk Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs proposal, his new favorite adviser and Americans’ real opinions on Thanksgiving turkey.
Jimmy Kimmel
It’s Thanksgiving week, which means best-of-the-year lists are beginning to trickle in. Jimmy Kimmel touched on one of them – Webster’s word of the year – on Tuesday evening. The dictionary company selected “demure” as the word of 2024, after the term was popularized by TikToker Jools Lebron.
“I feel like demure being named word of the year is some kind of dumb reaction to Trump winning the election,” said Kimmel. “This was not a demure year. Let’s be honest, the word of this year was hawk tuah, right?”
In other un-demure news, Trump announced on Truth Social that he is planning to issue an executive order that would apply a 25% tax on all products imported from Mexico and Canada and a 10% additional tariff on products from China. “So now if you want to purchase a tie from the Donald J Trump collection, you better get it immediately or it’s going to cost you an extra 10%,” Kimmel joked.
The proposed tariffs are not going down well with many economic experts. “Everyone who knows anything about economics believes these tariffs to be a terrible idea,” said Kimmel. “Some say this is the dumbest thing he’s come up with since Don Jr.”
“The problem is, China and Canada and Mexico don’t actually pay the tariffs,” he added. “The American company that imports their goods pays the tariff, which they of course pass down to us, and then we have $40 avocados as a result.
“Whoever would’ve guessed that the mail-order steak salesman who declared bankruptcy six times would be so bad with money?” he said.
Kimmel also noted the Thanksgiving holiday this week, when around 80 million Americans will travel to see loved ones. “At some point, whether you’re stuck in traffic or at the airport, we’ll say the words ‘we are never doing this again,’” he said. “But then a year goes by and we do it again. And that is the real magic of Thanksgiving.”
Kimmel also cited a survey finding that 35% of Americans think turkey is their least favorite Thanksgiving dish. “Turkey is kind of like the Aquaman of Thanksgiving,” he said. “Might not be your favorite, but the Justice League is not complete without him, right?”
Seth Meyers
On Late Night, Seth Meyers also discussed Trump’s proposed tariffs of 25% on Mexican and Canadian imports: “So by next year, if you want extra guacamole, it will be cheaper to go get it,” he joked.
Trump is also reportedly planned a series of executive actions to boost fossil fuels as soon as he takes office, including a rollback of tax credits for electric vehicles. “That’s how you’re thanking Elon Musk?!” Meyers said.
The New York Times published a report on Trump’s adviser Natalie Harp, a 33-year-old blond former cable news host who has become very close with the president-elect. According to the report by Maggie Haberman, Harp wrote adoring letters to Trump, who calls her “sweetie”.
“Melania also has a nickname for her, but I can’t say it on TV,” Meyers quipped.
In other Trumpworld news, his new “border czar” Tom Homan is set to visit the US-Mexico border with the Texas governor, Greg Abbott. “That’s fine, but I don’t get this obsession with physically going down to the border,” said Meyers. “What do you think you’re going to see, the problem? ‘Oh, somebody left this gate open! Solved it!’”
Homan also claimed to be working on a mass deportation plan that would prioritize “public safety threats, national security threats and fugitives”. “So it sounds like Trump is going to have to replace most of his cabinet,” Meyers joked.
