John Oliver mocks Trump's authoritarian lovefest in Asia, pans Jared Kushner's Mideast peace 'plan'


This past week "was a big one for Trump and diplomacy — two words that go together like 'fire' and 'Chicago 1871,'" John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. President Trump met "with his favorite authoritarians" at a G-20 summit in Japan and the DMZ between North and South Korea, and he was evidently "thrilled" that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had invited him to set foot north of the border line.
Oliver played Trump's comments: "Oh, that's actually nice," he said. "So Trump wanted to step over the line, was ready to do it, but waited until he received affirmative consent. What a refreshing change of pace for him. Maybe Trump's mantra going forward should be 'treat women with the same respect you show murderous autocrats!' He's growing. Good for him!" He pivoted to the Mideast peace plan put forward by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, last week, and he was underwhelmed.
What Kushner president "is not a real plan," Oliver said. "Essentially he describes hypothetical investments in Palestine and its neighbors worth more than $50 billion once peace is achieved — but achieving peace is the really important part. Without that, you got nothing." And his path to peace is equally empty, he added. "Yes, after years of thinking about it, Jared's arrived at the conclusion that the Middle East would be better off if people 'stop doing terrorism.'" Watch snippets of Oliver's recap of last week, plus his mocker of Kushner's thought process, below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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