Jimmy Fallon on Donald Trump Firing Half the Education Department & Tariff Wars
The March 12 monologue also touched on billionaires' bad business week: "Elon Musk lost $150 billion, Jeff Bezos lost $29 billion, and Mark Zuckerberg lost his mind," the Tonight Show Host joked.
Jimmy Fallon led his March 12 Tonight Show episode with a monologue tackling President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war with several countries, Elon Musk's frequent presence at the White House, and the bad financial week for the billionaires who attended Trump's inauguration.
"Today is National Girl Scout Day! My favorite Girl Scout Cookie has to be the Tagalong — it's fantastic," Fallon began. "Can we see the Tagalong? No, no, that's the wrong one," he said, as a photo of Elon Musk in the Oval Office appeared onscreen. "It's a different tagalong."
Fallon also touched on the ongoing international clash over Trump's tariffs on goods. "Today, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the U.S., and the European Union retaliated with tariffs on beef, peanut butter, and whiskey. Or, as it's also known: The Single Dad Food Pyramid," Fallon joked.
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Jimmy Fallon on Donald Trump's education cuts and billionaires' bad week
The mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education, in which WWE cofounder and new U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon oversaw the firing of nearly half its employees per NBC News, were also on Fallon's mind.
"Trump just announced he's firing 50 percent of the Department of Education," Fallon shared, as the Tonight Show audience audibly booed. "Even worse, Trump said, 'Don't worry, the other 60 percent will still have jobs," he added.
"He's changing a lot," Fallon said of Trump's planned education cuts; as NBC News reported in February, the White House hopes to abolish the Education Department entirely with an executive order.
"He even released his own version of the 'Alphabet Song,' and this is now required in schools," Fallon joked, introducing a parody tune sung by a Trump impersonator that included "E-L-O-N" and "R-F-K."
"No more FEMA, CDC, time to buy a Tesla, please!" the song ended, referring to the March 11 White House press event in which Trump and Elon displayed five Teslas, as Trump read from a list of price points and financing plans and claimed that he himself planned to buy one.
In related news, "the billionaires who attended Trump's inauguration have lost a combined $209 billion," Fallon relayed. "It's been a wild time: Elon Musk lost $150 billion, Jeff Bezos lost $29 billion, and Mark Zuckerberg lost his mind," he joked.
Watch Jimmy Fallon's full Tonight Show monologue above, and watch the show weeknights at 11:35/10:35c.
