Memes about penguins being embroiled in a trade war with the U.S. are flooding the timeline, and it's all because U.S. President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries and happened to include an uninhabited speck of rock and ice called Heard Island and McDonald Islands.

The population of the island is literally zero. Unless you, like the U.S. government, count penguins as economic actors.

The internet took one look at Trump's list and noticed the strange decision to tax the remote islands, and now we’re knee-deep in penguin protest memes. Here's a recap of Heard Island and McDonald Island's Penguin Tariffs.

What Do Penguins Have to Do with Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs?

On April 2nd, 2025, President Donald Trump stood in front of the White House at the "Make America Wealthy Again" event and announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on everything coming into the U.S., calling it the "Reciprocal Tariffs" policy.

The official White House X account followed up with a massive list of affected places, including such geopolitical powerhouses as … Heard Island and McDonald Islands.

But Heard and McDonald are Australian territories that are completely uninhabited. By people, that is. There are still four species of penguins living on the islands, alongside various seafaring birds that sometimes put down their talons on the ice.

The Guardian noted that the last human visit was around 2015, and these penguins are still subject to American tariffs, despite the island's biggest export being nature documentaries from 10 years ago.

How Did Internet Users React to Trump’s "Penguin Tariffs?"

Naturally, the internet did what it does best and roasted the situation to a crisp. On April 2nd, X user @h0serr quote-posted the White House list and said, "Mf putting tariffs on air," racking up over 40,000 likes.

By April 3rd, Redditor /u/Elon-Murks posted a meme to the subreddit /r/whenthe saying, "the trade war against penguins was long overdue," which got over 20,000 upvotes.

Meanwhile, the Bluesky parody account @heardislandgov shared a penguin protest pic, saying, "Our plain clothes Officer Penguins are attempting to maintain calm… but unfortunately we keep losing them in the crowd."

Later that day, user @Andr3jH posted a video of penguins waddling around with backpacks, captioned: "penguins leaving Heard Island and McDonald Island. is THIS what you voted for?"

penguins leaving Heard Island and McDonald Island. is THIS what you voted for? pic.twitter.com/yqCMAx9zGa

— ᐱ ᑎ ᑐ ᒋ ᕮ ᒍ (@Andr3jH) April 3, 2025

What Are Some More Memes About Trump's Penguin Tariffs?

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For the full history of Donald Trump's Penguin Tariffs, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.