Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs target remote island

People are making fun of Donald Trump's tariffs after he put a 10% tariff on an island inhabited only by penguins. Photo / Getty Images/ Digitally enhanced

• Donald Trump announced tariffs on remote islands, including the penguin-inhabited Heard and McDonald Islands.
• The tariffs sparked viral penguin memes and confusion over targeting areas without human populations.
• US stocks experienced their worst day since 2020 after the tariff announcement.

Donald Trump’s tariffs have become a black and white issue on social media, where penguin memes have gone viral after he targeted a group of islands inhabited by the flightless birds, but no people.

unprecedented protests this morning on heard and macdonald islands, as the population rises up against trump imposition of 10% across the board tariffs. pic.twitter.com/eOtsJ8uH5I

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 3, 2025

One widely shared image on Thursday showed a penguin in place of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office during his recent row with the US President and Vice-President JD Vance.

Another meme showed US First Lady Melania Trump gazing up at an emperor penguin – in place of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – while Trump looks askance.

Does he really think he can take on penguins in a tariff war and win? Those guys don't mess around pic.twitter.com/JpQ03pd3Eo

— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) April 3, 2025

Trump’s announcement of worldwide tariffs on Thursday morning (NZ time) certainly received an icy reception in many countries.

But there has also been bafflement about why some of the most remote parts of the world have been targeted.

The Trump administration has put a 10 percent tariff on the Heard Island and McDonald which has a population of 0 people and is inhabited only by penguins. pic.twitter.com/KCmb9nBIYD

— WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@WarMonitor3) April 2, 2025

A case in point: why would Trump slap 10% tariffs on all exports from the Heard and McDonald Islands, a barren sub-Antarctic Australian territory without a human population but with four different species of penguin?

“The penguins have been ripping us off for years,” Anthony Scaramucci, who was Trump’s former communications chief for 11 days in his first term and is now a vocal critic, joked on X.

McDonald island penguins are gathering to protest #TrumpTariffs #TrumpTax #TrumpRecession pic.twitter.com/ifeUf64xhR

— 🦋Resist Tyrants🦋🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@deejay90192) April 3, 2025

“Donald Trump slapped tariffs on penguins and not on Putin,” posted US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, referring to the fact that Russia was not on the US tariff list.

The White House said sanctions on Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine meant that there was no “meaningful” trade on which to impose tariffs.

Trump also caused puzzlement with his 29% tariff on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Pacific with a population of a little over 2000 humans.

“I’m not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

I never thought the US President would start a trade war with penguins, but here we are. What crazy times to be alive. #TrumpTariffs

Last laugh of the night. Night all 😂😴 pic.twitter.com/jydlfgq6Cj

— Crystal 🇨🇦 (@BluenoserGalNS) April 3, 2025

Britain’s remote Falkland Islands – home to one million penguins and best known for the 1982 war fought by Britain to repel Argentinian invaders – was hit with 41% tariffs even though the UK faces only 10%.

Trump’s tariffs have, however, been no laughing matter for global markets, with US stocks suffering their worst day since the Covid pandemic in 2020.

- Agence France-Presse