Jimmy Kimmel on Trump Pearl Harbor joke: ‘Everything he knows about it begins and ends with the Ben Affleck movie’ | Late-night TV roundup
With The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on hiatus until at least March 27, the late-night hosts on Thursday discussed Donald Trump’s disruptions in his meeting with Japan’s prime minister, his reticence on Iran and new findings in the Epstein investigations.
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel Live! On his show, the host discussed Trump’s visit to Japan and his meeting with Sanae Takaichi. As a welcome gift, the Prime Minister presented the US president with 250 cherry trees to commemorate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.
“This is a guy paving over the Rose Garden,” Kimmel commented. “What is he going to do with 250 cherry trees? He’ll probably use them to build a Waffle House or something.”
Trump’s main agenda at the Takaichi meeting was to persuade Japan to support the ongoing war in Iran. Asked at a press conference why he did not tell his US allies about the attacks in advance, he said: “We wanted a surprise. Who knows the surprise better than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”
“I guess we should be grateful he doesn’t speak with an accent,” Kimmel joked. “What’s going on in that orange head of yours? I have no doubt that everything he knows about Pearl Harbor starts and ends with the movie starring Ben Affleck.”
Kimmel then moved on to developments in the Epstein files investigation. Despite Trump’s claims that Epstein was kicked out of Mar-a-Lago, a yet-to-be-redacted 2009 email between Trump and Epstein’s lawyers shows Trump saying that Epstein “was not a member. He could have been a guest. He never wanted to leave.”
Kimmel acted shocked and said, “This document from 17 years ago shows that the president of the United States is not telling the truth.”
Meanwhile, a partial U.S. government shutdown has resulted in long airport lines across the country and 50,000 TSA agents working without pay.
“Some from TSA are reportedly selling blood to pay their bills,” Kimmel said. “This is even more difficult for TSA agents because they are not allowed to place their blood in containers larger than 3 ounces.”
Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers also taunted Prime Minister Takaichi over Trump’s comments about Pearl Harbor.
“‘Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?'” the host asked, quoting Trump. “I guess it’s because neither of you were born yet?”
“What are you talking about?” continued Meyers. “You mean the movie Pearl Harbor? Because Japan didn’t do that. We did it to ourselves.”
At the press conference, Trump praised Takaichi’s ability to speak English and added that he had not yet learned Japanese. “Oh, no one thought you were learning Japanese,” Meyers said. “You already have your hands full with English.”
Asked yesterday if he would send more troops to Iran, Trump said: “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”
To Meyers, that meant a lot. The host called the comments “very rude considering who was asking” before showing a photo of J.D. Vance.
On Thursday, Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be secretary of homeland security was advanced by a key Senate committee. The former Oklahoma senator said he didn’t know how to tie a tie when he was first elected to Congress.
“Yes, I think we made it clear that it was not disqualifying,” Meyers said. “Dress code is slowly evolving into casual attire for custody hearings.”
Yesterday also saw Trump meet Irish prime minister Micheál Martin as part of his annual Shamrock Bowl presentation. The President told the press that he “felt” he had Irish blood, adding: “I’m not too far away, I have Scottish blood. Is that good or bad?”
“Long story short, we’re in another war,” Meyers joked.
The host then moved on to lighter topics with the news that the most popular puppy name in the US is Luna. “The least popular name is still Ghislaine,” Meyers joked.
“If Ghislaine goes out and gets lost, you don’t go out and shout that name,” he said. “That dog is gone.”
