United States President Donald Trump just announced a minimum 10 percent tariff on most U.S. trading partners, fulfilling one of his many campaign promises and claiming the reciprocal tariffs executive order aims to "strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers."

https://t.co/CdTzF2sfMZ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2025

The announcement not only triggered discussions of a potential economic recession but also spawned countless memes on social media that mocked the extensive list of 180 countries being tariffed (such as an unhabited island being the target of heavy tariffs though only penguins habit the region) and kicked off a viral rumor that the White House used ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs.

Aside from all the economic turmoil President Trump's reciprocal tariffs will have in the future, let's uncover all the memetic content, netizens' reactions and rumors about the controversial executive order as it continues going viral this week.

What's The Impact Of Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs?

President Donald Trump alleges the proposed tariffs are intended to address trade imbalances, incentivize domestic manufacturing and generate additional tax revenue.

While those reasons have been praised by some, the proposition was not well received by many world leaders, particularly those in the European Union and China, who have signaled strong opposition, pledging countermeasures against the U.S.

If you're curious about some of the finer details, the BBC posted a more in-depth video about the impact of President Trump's reciprocal tariffs in the U.S. and global trading.

Why Is Trump Putting Tariffs On Heard Island and McDonald Islands?

Among the peculiarities of President Trump's tariff list is the inclusion of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, regions that rarely, if ever, have any economic dealings or trading business with the U.S. The reason is that the islands have a total of zero humans living on them and are home to mostly penguins and other animals.

The unprecedented tariff on an uninhabited island did not go unnoticed on social media, where users mockingly speculated about the strategic importance of levying tariffs on Heard Island and McDonald Islands through memes.

What Is The 'White House Used ChatGPT To Calculate Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs' Rumor About?

A few hours after Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs were revealed, netizens and media outlets started to debate a rumor that the White House could have used the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to calculate part of the tariffs in the executive order.

X user @krishnanrohit, for example, is one of many netizens that noticed that if you ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Grok for an “easy” way to solve trade deficits and put the U.S. at front of the strategy, the AI chatbots will give you a version of this “deficit divided by exports” formula with striking similarities to Trump's reciprocal tariffs.

The Verge tested the prompts given by netizens to the AI bots, as well as adding more intricate requests and details to be more aligned with the formula used by the U.S. Government. The website claims that all four platforms gave "the same fundamental suggestion."

The Trump administration has since denied the use of AI to calculate the tariffs, publishing the formula used, as well as the justification for its choice.

How Are Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs Being Used As a Meme?

The internet instantly flooded social media with memes and jokes on the absurdity of Trump's tariff announcement. Examples range from humorous photoshopped images featuring the tariffs to hilarious and tragic reactions of netizens' worries for their economic future.

For instance, Redditor u/JoJoVonAnthro photoshopped a J.D. Vance Face Edit meme over the reciprocal tariffs sign Trump held and shared it to the /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial subreddit (seen below), captioning it, "Trump Presenting Favorite JD Vance Meme."

A wave of memes and jokes about a "Second Great Depression" also notably ensued on social media shortly after the tariffs reveal in early April 2025, especially after President Donald Trump claimed the United States could have avoided the 1929 Great Depression with the same tariffs strategy he announced.

For instance, X user @daydenjaniels5 posted a reaction video of a young man looking at the sky, captioning it, "Second Great Depression as soon as I graduate college." The post (seen below) amassed over 2.4 million views and 114,000 likes in a day.

Second Great Depression as soon as I graduate college pic.twitter.com/EDzowxwxl9 https://t.co/zqA5W3jy5p

— meth silchick (@daydenjaniels5) April 2, 2025

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