Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Trump’s Trip to Home of ‘America First’ Merch
The late-night host unpacked why the president’s big visit was ultimately a bust.
Jimmy Kimmel brutally mocked Donald Trump’s “embarrassing” and unsuccessful trip to China, during which the president failed to secure any meaningful deals.
“The president made a trip to China to see all the factories where his ‘America First’ merchandise is made. You got to check on the hats,” Kimmel began on Monday night’s monologue.
Trump and other U.S. officials went to China to address the Iran conflict, trade imbalances, and the Taiwan situation.
Evan Vucci/Pool/Getty Images
During the three-day trip to China, 79-year-old Trump met with President Xi Jinping, and he was greeted with much fanfare, including cheering children. Kimmel, a known Trump enemy, played clips of the kids and said, “They met some very excited children. Like very. How they got them so excited for Trump, I don’t know. I think they told him he was SpongeBob.”
Kimmel said, “He eats this stuff up. The pageantry whenever he visits a foreign land, it’s like a 5-year-old at their birthday party.”
Kimmel joked that the Chinese leader knew just how to play Trump—with all the fanfare he loves.
Evan Vucci/Reuters
The ABC host, who just last month fought a public battle with the president and first lady Melania Trump over comments he made before the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attack, said that Trump is “so embarrassing on these trips.”
“Give that man a parade,” continued the late-night host. “He’ll give you anything you want. And President Xi played him like a Fat-ivarius.”
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Ultimately, Kimmel pointed out, “There were no major deals or agreements made on this trip to China.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle responded in a statement to the Daily Beast, “Nobody in their right mind wants to watch or listen to Jimmy Kimmel who is a talentless hack with failing ratings.”
Melania Trump opted to skip the trip, and first son Eric’s Fox News host wife, Lara, filled in.
Brendan Smialowski/via Reuters
The late-night host also mocked Trump for backing out on a years-long promise he made to American farmers that he would put an end to Chinese nationals buying farmland in America. After playing a clip of Trump claiming that the Chinese president called America “the hottest country anywhere in the world,” Kimmel quipped, “Wow. He said that? Huh. He said we were the hottest. That’s so cool. You should give him all our farmland for that.”
The president’s trip to China was largely viewed as a failure. The trip was designed to discuss and reach agreements on a range of crucial matters, including the war in Iran, tariffs, tech, and Taiwan, but no deals were announced. Trump did tout a vague agreement for China to buy Boeing planes.
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