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Trump's America

Opinion

Simon Taylor Comedian and author September 21, 2025 — 4.33pm

When I wrote for The Tonight Show in the US – the show that President Donald Trump this week described as being hosted by a “total loser” and on “Fake News NBC” – the last thing I was thinking was “will this joke annoy the president?”

The whole point of my job was to take jabs at political figures. Here’s one from 13 years ago that still feels applicable: “Italy’s former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion. You know what you get in America for tax evasion? The Republican presidential nomination.” Now, penning something as innocuous as this for a US broadcaster would cause me to pause.

In general, I don’t mind pausing be

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