Jon Stewart excoriated Donald Trump’s disastrous handling of the world economy following his return to office, calling him “the world’s worst negotiator” and begging him to stop.
In a wide-ranging segment taking aim at the president’s first 100 days, the Daily Show host took swipes at everything from the president’s disastrous tariff policies to failed attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine and escalating trade war with China.
Opening the segment wearing a long, grey, fake beard, Stewart admitted that Trump’s return has “aged the nation in Tom Hanks’ Castaway years,” and reacted to a number of clips of the president congratulating himself for “the most successful 100 days in the history of our country.”
“Suck it, Jefferson! Suck it, Lincoln! Suck it, Roosevelts squared,” Stewart responded, tearing off the beard. “Trump’s first 100 days is like if America landed on the moon and killed Bin Laden in the same mission! ‘Thought you could hide on the moon, Bin Laden? Get him, boys!’ According to Trump, the most successful 100 days in the history of our country. Can anyone offer a counterpoint?”
Elsewhere, Stewart reacted incredulously to Trump’s claims that he had negotiated 200 deals with different countries since his “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced.
“100% bulls–t! Here’s how you know. 200 deals? There’s only, like, 180 countries!” said the host. “Trump is not only not the best negotiator, he is maybe the worst negotiator on Earth.”
Responding to a clip of Scott Bessent praising Trump’s “game theory” which has left other nations clueless about his true intentions, Stewart said, “Right, right, right, right. But I’m pretty sure, in game theory, you are supposed to tell the person on your side—on your side where they’re going to end up, so they don’t freak the f— out!
“How did you not know that other countries weren’t going to fight back?” he asked. “Did you miss that page in ‘The Art of War?’ Spoiler alert, it’s on page one!”
But the climax of Stewart’s monologue saw him launch into a blistering attack which savaged the president’s mishandling of America’s “pot of gold,” and reminded viewers that Trump’s hyper-capitalist stranglehold of the economy runs counter to the country’s founding values.
Reacting to a clip of Trump bragging about using his “tremendous leverage” to force tariff deals on other countries, a furious Stewart said, “You don’t have the leverage! That’s the key misunderstanding here! Trump is so arrogant, he thinks the leverage is his. It’s ours! We the people!”
“It is our leverage! It’s not your leverage. Why would you even think it is?” he asked. “It took the people 250 years of striving to live up to a constitutional republic and rule of law, painstaking equity that you are squandering.”
“That is the crux of American exceptionalism. You just want to make us great. That’s a downgrade!” he added. “Our brand is not strategic uncertainty. And you are not the keeper of our pot of gold. You are a temporary leprechaun.”
Stewart paused for a moment as the crowd burst into cheers and applause, before concluding: “And the more enamored, President Trump, you are with your authoritarian whims, the more you turn our shining city on a hill into just another ordinary, despot-led, sea-level s–thole. So if I could just put this in negotiating terms you can understand, all caps, ‘Donald, STOP!’”
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