On Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on penguin-inhabited islands near Antarctica as part of his “Liberation Day” levies targeting dozens of foreign countries.
“Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan confronted Lutnick on CBS about the 10% penalties applied to Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, Australian territories that, according to The New York Times, are home to many penguins but no people. The decision has sparked a wave of internet memes mocking the policy.
“When we saw the president stand in the Rose Garden holding up that chart that you helped make, that wasn’t actually tariffs. That was actually confusing to investors, because it was some kind of other formula, and the countries themselves seemed kind of random,” Brennan said. “Like, why are the Heard and McDonald Islands, which…
