In his Liberation Day speech, Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on US allies and adversaries alike. However, the most surprising thing in the tariffs list was the Inclusion of deserted Islands. The internet flared with memes and jokes after a set of uninhabited islands near Antarctica, which are only occupied by penguins, was hit with a 10 per cent tariff on goods along with mainland Australia.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands, an external Australian territory, are among the most remote regions on the planet. It is only reachable via a two-week boat voyage from Perth, and no one has apparently visited the islands in nearly a decade.
Social media users couldn’t help but laugh out loud over the bizarre Inclusion of the desolate outposts in Trump’s tariff list. Memes flooded X as netizens asked the logic behind taxing a land of ice and penguins.
Users posted hilarious posts pointing out Trump’s decision to tax penguins but not Russians.
Consider this tweet, for example: “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.”
Another user said, “So let me get this straight: Donald Trump imposed tariffs on an island full of penguins but left Russia alone?”
Let’s have a look at some hilarious and funny memes/posts on social media on the tariffs on penguins.
The penguin wore a suit. But didn’t escape the Trump tarifs on the Heard og McDonald Islands. Maybe it didn’t say thank you? pic.twitter.com/aaPr1ufCr0
— Christopher Arzrouni (@CArzrouni) April 3, 2025
“10% tariffs. Beautiful tariffs. And the penguins – big, strong penguins – come up to me, tears in their eyes: ‘Sir, please, no tariffs. We can’t compete with American penguins.’ But I say, ‘America first.’ They don’t like it, but it’s happening.”#TrumpTariffs@YourAnonCentral 😉 pic.twitter.com/QLmLRSluSm
— Canada Hates Trump (@AntiTrumpCanada) April 3, 2025
McDonald island penguins are gathering to protest #TrumpTariffs #TrumpTax #TrumpRecession pic.twitter.com/ifeUf64xhR
— 🦋Resist Tyrants🦋🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@deejay90192) April 3, 2025
— Mike Breen (@breenmij) April 3, 2025
On April 2, Donald Trump had announced ‘kind’ and discounted ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on as many as 180 countries, saying it would make America “wealthy again” and bring jobs “roaring back”.
