Donald Trump’s Tariffs On These 2 Islands Comes With An Absurd Twist

Donald Trump drew mockery for including two remote islands near Antarctica on his list of countries (even though they are not countries) that will now be hit with steep, new tariffs as part of his so-called “Liberation Day.”The president slapped a 10% tariff on all products that are imported from the mostly barren, volcanic Heard and McDonald Islands.They are uninhabited by humans, take days to travel to (only by boat) from Australia and are home to penguins and seals, and has a fishery.MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow poked fun at the news by noting how the islands ― which, per The Guardian, exported only around $1.4 million worth of products to the U.S. last year ―  are “only reachable by boat and it takes two weeks by sea to get there from Australia.”“They’re totally uninhabited. Both of them,” she continued. “They’re also active volcanoes so, even if you wanted to move there, even the penguins might caution you, right?”#BREAKING: Legendary #Maddow: "The UNINHABITED and Arctic volcanoes of Heard and McDonald Islands were just slapped by Donald Trump today with a steep 10% #tariff."😂🤦♀️ pic.twitter.com/8zZAbC0qsX— Emoluments Clause (@Emolclause) April 3, 2025“I will say those volcanoes and the penguins and seals who live there, they will never menace the American economy again, as they have in the past, by flooding us with their cheap exports of what? Like, fresh air, cool breezes, a waft of eau de penguin, I don’t know. What do they send us?” Maddow snarked.“Are you tired of all the winning, America?” she asked. “Can you just feel the practical economic benefits that MAGA leadership is bringing to us at last? Isn’t it a relief?”Meanwhile, on social media, former Representative Tom Malinowski sarcastically wrote: “The Heard Island and McDonald penguins have been taking advantage of us for too long - it’s about time we stood up to them!”Other critics followed suit.The Heard and McDonald Islands are completely uninhabited. Population zero. I guess we're going to tariff the seagulls?It kind of feels like a White House intern went through Wikipedia's list of countries and just generated this list off of that with no further research. https://t.co/UpTgcICbg1— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) April 2, 2025My working theory on Trump’s tariff on penguins is that they in some way interfered with a golf outing he had somewhere. Developing …— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 3, 2025I just want one reporter to ask karoline leavitt why trump place tariffs on islands only inhabited by penguins....I want to hear how she spins that one.— Covie (@covie_93) April 3, 2025Trump admin officials coming up with the tariff rate for uninhabited islands pic.twitter.com/UCawrXr34l— OSINT Gorilla (@GorillaOSINT) April 2, 2025Trump administration has put a 10 percent tariff on the Heard and McDonald Islands….which has a population of 0 people and is inhabited only by penguins. pic.twitter.com/oSx7LyU0b3— MaineWonk (@TheMaineWonk) April 2, 2025This is a bizarre pair of inclusions on Trump's tariff list - the British Indian Ocean Territory, which is basically the Diego Garcia air base, and the uninhabited (!) Heard & McDonald Islands in the Antarctic. What possible imports could exist from there? pic.twitter.com/loTY4lnVBI— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) April 2, 2025Taking on America's real enemies--a bunch of islands you've never heard of. pic.twitter.com/Hn1Fzm3Evn— Brendan Duke (@Brendan_Duke) April 2, 2025Blimey. What have Reunion and Norfolk Island done to annoy the Mango Mussolini? #TrumpTariffspic.twitter.com/hmhf0rqJiq— anthony vickers (@untypicalboro) April 2, 2025I'm gonna start a business that routes Norwegian goods through Svalbard and Jan Mayen in order to get a five percent discount.Who's in? We're gonna see so many polar bears! pic.twitter.com/8HMn1P4nfv— Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) April 2, 2025Excuse me, Svalbard? https://t.co/VuvCfGeqaU— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) April 2, 2025