On April 5, Saturday Night Live opened with James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump standing at a podium, selling the American public on his latest economic strategy: tariffs, or as he calls them, “short for terrific idea.” The sketch was inspired by Trump’s real-life April 2 press conference, where he used a baffling chart to explain how his tariff plan was going to save the US economy — and possibly defeat China using the power of geometric confusion.
Standing next to a chart that looked like it was pulled from a group project gone wrong, Johnson’s Trump attempted to decode its symbols. “That’s a triangle,” he said. “I don’t know what that is, but up here, that’s Xi from China, and that’s me stabbing him with the sword. And then down here, that’s some sideways boobs — anyway, you get it, your money’s gone.”
It was a line that captured everything about the Trumpian approach to policy: confident nonsense dressed up as revelation. Economics, in this universe, isn’t about supply chains or market volatility — it’s about vibes, violence, and vaguely inappropriate doodles.
Enter Mike Myers , reprising his role as Elon Musk for the third time this season. Wearing a cheesehead hat — a nod to Musk’s real-life attempt to influence a Wisconsin Supreme Court race — Myers’ Musk immediately admitted his mistake: “I should’ve just bought Wisconsin!” It was the perfect distillation of the Musk-Trump overlap: the idea that politics isn’t about people, but about assets to be acquired.
Musk also introduced the Tesla Model-V, “the first electric car in history to be fully self-vandalising,” equipped with self-smashing headlights and AI-powered graffiti. It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to recent real-world protests at Tesla dealerships, where demonstrators have been damaging the cars to protest Musk’s politics.
Back on stage, Trump continued his attempt to sell the tariff plan, promising Americans they’d soon be “too wealthy,” right before pivoting to “MAGDA — Make America Great Depression Again.” The sketch balanced slapstick with a fairly pointed critique: that the economic rationale behind these tariffs often feels like it’s based more on revenge than reason.
The visual of Trump "stabbing Xi" on a triangle — whatever that triangle represented — was more than just a joke. It was a perfect metaphor for how political theatre often replaces actual policy in Trump’s world. Instead of a coherent argument, there’s just a diagram, a sword, and a punchline.
And maybe that’s the point. When you no longer need to explain your policies, all that’s left is performance. Preferably, one with swords and self-destructing cars.
Standing next to a chart that looked like it was pulled from a group project gone wrong, Johnson’s Trump attempted to decode its symbols. “That’s a triangle,” he said. “I don’t know what that is, but up here, that’s Xi from China, and that’s me stabbing him with the sword. And then down here, that’s some sideways boobs — anyway, you get it, your money’s gone.”
It was a line that captured everything about the Trumpian approach to policy: confident nonsense dressed up as revelation. Economics, in this universe, isn’t about supply chains or market volatility — it’s about vibes, violence, and vaguely inappropriate doodles.
Enter Mike Myers , reprising his role as Elon Musk for the third time this season. Wearing a cheesehead hat — a nod to Musk’s real-life attempt to influence a Wisconsin Supreme Court race — Myers’ Musk immediately admitted his mistake: “I should’ve just bought Wisconsin!” It was the perfect distillation of the Musk-Trump overlap: the idea that politics isn’t about people, but about assets to be acquired.
Musk also introduced the Tesla Model-V, “the first electric car in history to be fully self-vandalising,” equipped with self-smashing headlights and AI-powered graffiti. It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to recent real-world protests at Tesla dealerships, where demonstrators have been damaging the cars to protest Musk’s politics.
Back on stage, Trump continued his attempt to sell the tariff plan, promising Americans they’d soon be “too wealthy,” right before pivoting to “MAGDA — Make America Great Depression Again.” The sketch balanced slapstick with a fairly pointed critique: that the economic rationale behind these tariffs often feels like it’s based more on revenge than reason.
The visual of Trump "stabbing Xi" on a triangle — whatever that triangle represented — was more than just a joke. It was a perfect metaphor for how political theatre often replaces actual policy in Trump’s world. Instead of a coherent argument, there’s just a diagram, a sword, and a punchline.
And maybe that’s the point. When you no longer need to explain your policies, all that’s left is performance. Preferably, one with swords and self-destructing cars.
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