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Donald Trump

politician · in 80 videos (2010–2026)

US politician whom John singled out as the presidential candidate who name-called by far the most, and who as president signed an executive order suspending refugee admissions. Hank describes him as preferring spectacle to governing and calls his the most dysfunctional administration in living memory, later quoting the view that he acts like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president.

Works: Donald Trump tax plan, Donald Trump health care plan

Videos by year: 2010: 1 · 2011: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 17 · 2017: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2020: 13 · 2021: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2025: 13 · 2026: 2

Also known as: Trump, President Trump

Threads

Also named in the threads: Hank and Katherine have a baby, Orin (2016) · Nerdfighteria Census 2016 edition · John: a US debt spiral is very unlikely whoever becomes president (2016) · John: the 2016 US presidential election will not be rigged (2016) · Nerdfighteria Census 2024 edition

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

United States presidential election (20) · Republican Party (16) · United States Congress (19) · United States (46) · Barack Obama (14) · Twitter (17) · COVID-19 pandemic (9) · social media (7) · sensationalism (4) · Rosianna Halse Rojas (5)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2011

  • 2011-05-02 · Osama Bin Laden is Dead — Hank cannot imagine Donald Trump making that phone call and is glad Barack Obama was in charge just then. — 00:02:46

2015

  • 2015-08-11 (said on 2015-08-10, implied) · 454 Days: Understanding America's Ridiculous Political Campaigns — announcement: John's pledge: he will begin caring about the US presidential election 100 days before Indiana's May 3rd primary; if Donald Trump is still a candidate on January 23rd, 2016, he will think about Trump for the first time. — 00:03:03

2016

  • 2016-04-19 · Literally Hitler — John says all the presidential candidates have name-called, but, not wanting a false equivalence, that Donald Trump does it by far the most. — 00:02:36
    • John says that next Tuesday (26 April 2016) he will look at the Republican candidates' tax plans. — 00:03:20
  • 2016-04-26 · Understanding the Tax Plans of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz — John says Trump would raise the standard deduction so couples earning $50,000 or less pay no federal income tax, and collapse the brackets into four, with a top rate of 25% over $432,000. — 00:05:20
  • 2016-08-12 · AMERICA, DAMMIT! - Thoughts from Glacier National Park — Hank says Trump wants him afraid of so much that he has become most afraid of Trump himself; he has never seen anyone fan hatred like him and worries that hatred, once loose, cannot be put away again. — video description
  • 2016-10-11 · Understanding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's Tax Plans — John says Trump's debate claim that Clinton is raising everybody's taxes massively is simply not true for the vast majority of Americans. — 00:04:34
  • 2016-10-14 · Compassion, Weakness, and the 2016 Election — Hank says he is voting for Hillary Clinton, not only because he thinks Trump treats the world as a game to win at any cost and would raise the (still low) odds of apocalypse, but because she has done much good and he relates to her. (hedged) — video description
  • 2016-10-18 · Understanding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's Health Care Reform Proposals — John says Trump would first repeal the ACA; Trump says he will ensure private insurers keep covering people with pre-existing conditions but has not said how. — 00:03:59
    • John quotes RAND's conclusion that Trump's proposals decrease the number of insured, raise out-of-pocket spending for individual-market consumers, and raise the federal deficit compared to the ACA. — 00:04:34
  • 2016-10-25 · Will the U.S. Presidential Election Be Rigged? — John says the US presidential election will not be rigged, any more than the 2004 one was. — 00:05:58
  • 2016-11-09 · My Post-Election Thoughts — John thinks the result is so hard partly because Trump attacked not what opponents believe but who they are (race, gender, religion); being called dangerous or less than by a president-elect is painful, scary and real. (hedged) — 00:00:25
  • 2016-11-11 · The Trouble with Wishful Thinking — Hannah Hart: Hannah says some people voted for Donald Trump to be president, and moreover 46% of people didn't vote at all. — 00:00:27
    • Hannah Hart: Hannah says it occurs to her that wishes are what got us here: wishing is what made 46% of the population not vote. (hedged) — 00:00:55
  • …and 61 statements more in 2016 — all statements of 2016

Also named in: P4A 2016 Hilarity Reprise - OVER $2M RAISED!!

2017

  • 2017-01-20 · Behind the Scenes of My Life — In the description Hank says he is not hopeful or pleased about the new president but very worried, since the president is actively antagonistic toward many things he cares about. — video description
  • 2017-01-31 · Understanding Trump's Executive Order on Immigration — John reports that on Friday afternoon President Trump signed an executive order reshaping US immigration law, causing confusion, even within government, about whom it affects. — 00:00:01
    • Trump is suspending all refugee admissions to the US from all countries for 120 days and all refugee resettlement from Syria indefinitely. — 00:03:24
  • 2017-02-03 · Are We Making Things Worse? — Hank wants to act for his beliefs without attacking those who disagree: not every Trump supporter is like Milo or Richard Spencer, 50% of Americans still approve of Trump's job, and treating them as a monolithic block of racists does more harm than good. — video description
    • Hank says that as part of Trump's refugee ban, federal funding to local organizations helping refugees find work, training and basics like toothpaste and tampons has been eliminated. — 00:02:26
  • 2017-03-17 · Trump's Budget Explained — Hank says Trump's proposed budget leaves untouched programs like Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment and Social Security; these and other mandatory spending take up 73% of the US budget. — 00:00:06
    • Hank says the Trump budget raises the military by 52 blocks, a 10% increase, enough to pay the entire current budgets of the EPA, CPB, Transportation and NASA. — 00:01:14
  • 2017-03-21 · My Information Diet — John is not convinced twittering makes him better informed: he knows a lot about Trump's handshakes with foreign leaders but little about South Korea's ousted president, Brazil's corruption scandals or the Fed's monetary policy. (hedged) — 00:01:50
  • 2017-04-28 · Can You Trust Mainstream Media? — Hank says the destruction of expertise and its results, from feeling ill-informed to electing a reality TV star president to denying the biggest crisis humanity has faced, is all our fault. — 00:03:01
  • 2017-06-02 · The Paris Accord: What is it? And What Does it All Mean? — Hank says that if Congress's majority party and the President deny human-caused climate change and keep investing in Edison-era energy systems, US progress will stall. — 00:04:48
  • 2017-09-26 · Trump and Russia: An Introduction to What We Know (and What We Don't) — John: DHS and the ODNI have stated with high confidence that the Russian government sought to influence the US presidential election in Trump's favour over Clinton. — 00:00:50
    • None of this means the election was illegitimate (it wasn't) or that Trump didn't win (he did). — 00:02:31
  • …and 26 statements more in 2017 — all statements of 2017

2018

  • 2018-03-23 · Trump, Guns, and Net Neutrality...With Governor Steve Bullock?! — Hank says that in Montana's last big election Donald Trump won 70% of the vote while a Democratic governor was reelected with 54%, which he wants explained. — 00:00:07
  • 2018-04-13 · Who is in Control? — Hank: More than 100 years later that future is now: personalized news has become information and entertainment feeds, from your cousin's baby to the President's unfiltered thoughts. — 00:00:21
  • 2018-04-27 · Finding Respite in 2018 — Hank: The study found that bedtime cortisol rose after the election in young people who didn't vote for Donald Trump, more so in women and non-dominant groups such as LGBT people and people of color. — 00:00:54
  • 2018-05-22 · The Liger Delusion — John: A conspiracy theory, which may prove true, holds that the affair was really between the woman and Donald Trump, and that Broidy covered it up and made the payment. — 00:02:02
    • John stops himself: none of that means Broidy covered up an affair for Trump. — 00:02:21
  • 2018-10-26 · The Rigged Election — Hank writes that it gets scary when Trump's lies rot the system's foundation, as when he says an election he loses isn't legitimate. — video description
    • It seems to Hank that Trump's supporters love a strongman who looks powerful, even one breaking the fundamental institution of government by calling on followers not to accept an election he doesn't win. (hedged) — video description
    • President Trump doesn't talk like that: before the 2016 election he repeatedly said Democratic Party plots would deprive him of victory. — 00:01:23
    • Even after winning, Trump said he lost the popular vote only because millions of undocumented immigrants voted; Hank calls it lies told because they sounded good. (doubtful: millions) — 00:01:31
    • Trump talks like a political pundit, which is not just style: with the power of the presidency behind you, some things shouldn't be said because they attack the country's foundations. — 00:01:45
    • Claiming widespread voter fraud funded by your opponents, without even trying to prove it, weakens democracy; Trump has done this and continues to. — 00:01:59
    • Hank says Trump lied about undocumented immigrants voting, Pennsylvanians voting multiple times and Massachusetts voters bussed to New Hampshire, and said in the campaign the only way to lose was cheating. — 00:02:16
  • …and 7 statements more in 2018 — all statements of 2018

Also named in: What Can't a Billion Dollars Buy?

2019

  • 2019-02-05 · Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images — John says deepfake technology has been used to make Donald Trump, Barack Obama and many others say things they haven't actually said. — 00:00:29
  • 2019-09-06 · Trump is Abnormal, It's His Superpower — Hank says that a couple of days ago President Trump shared an earlier map of Hurricane Dorian's projected path. — 00:00:00
    • The description says the channel has rarely discussed Trump, perhaps as a respite, and Hank has no idea whether attention helps or hurts, but understanding it matters, hence this video. — video description
    • Hank says someone, probably Trump, drew a Sharpie line on the map to include a slice of Alabama. (hedged) — 00:00:21
    • Hank says it became a front-page story, 'Sharpie gate' trended on Twitter, and people suggested Trump be prosecuted for sharing false weather data. — 00:00:21
    • Hank says Trump is not bad at everything: he really gets attention, prefers spectacle to governing, and produces fresh spectacle two or three times a week; it is a feature, not a bug. — 00:01:20
    • Hank adds this does not mean the spectacle is good for Trump personally or for his reelection chances. — 00:01:20
    • Hank says that by being abnormal Trump is always in the spotlight, and so gets to craft a narrative like the producer of a reality TV show. — 00:02:04
    • Hank says the only story Trump wants to tell with this power is about himself: the ultimate and only savior, owed loyalty, always right even when clearly mistaken. — 00:02:43
    • Hank says Trump has a tremendous skill for crafting narrative but uses it only for himself, not a shared vision, which is exhausting because of how dangerous it is. — 00:03:13
    • Hank says we are exhausted not only by a fresh spectacle every two days but because it is always about the same thing: pompous, selfish, egotistical and smug. — 00:03:13
  • 2019-12-27 · Why I'm Worried about 2020 — Hank says the US just impeached its president over his lack of respect for the process, and he is worried about that. — 00:01:14
  • …and 4 statements more in 2019 — all statements of 2019

2020

  • 2020-07-31 · Your Brain Gets Smart, but Your Head Gets Dumb — Hank says higher education is the victim of three things: decades of hubris raising prices to compete, a pandemic that will decrease education's value, and an administration that doesn't care. — 00:02:23
  • 2020-08-25 · Somebody once told me… — John: After Noah's claim that Trump will be re-elected, John says many social media algorithms value engagement over accuracy, so engaging predictions beat well-informed ones; sports talk radio shows it offline too. — 00:01:27
    • John says that even knowing the video is fake, Noah's predictions will sit in his mindscape when he thinks of chip implants, Mars or Trump, so Noah is real whether he exists or not. — 00:03:24
  • 2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01, implied) · I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and — The description says Hank doesn't want Donald Trump to suffer, from illness or from his terror of losing power, his mistaking cruelty for toughness, or his belief that illness is a character flaw. — video description
  • 2020-10-23 · 10 Reasons to Vote RIGHT NOW — Hank: Reason nine: this big election will and should be read as a judgment on the last four years, internationally and in how we treat each other; we vote for a story, not just people. — 00:02:26
  • 2020-10-27 · The time I met Joe Biden — John finds Biden's plans for tackling the COVID pandemic far more convincing than Trump's. — 00:01:56
    • John calls Biden's climate change proposals serious and Trump's literally non-existent. — 00:01:56
    • John says the Trump administration has no comprehensive responses because its idea of governance is populism, not policy: a clear us and them, with only a Trump vote stopping them. — 00:02:26
  • 2020-10-30 · Four Years Ago — Hank: Like Orin's head size, the laptop story had little data: the story was really our anxiety, and worry about the worry was legitimate, since it could lead people to faulty judgments lived with for years. — 00:01:56
  • 2020-11-06 (said on 2020-11-05, implied) · Just Some Election Thoughts… — Hank says the result is close enough that Trump can falsely claim the election was stolen from him, and many of his supporters will completely lose faith in the American system. — 00:00:58
    • Hank says the US has a right-wing populist president because many believe people who are not 'real Americans' make their lives worse, a label drawn culturally, racially, by politicized oversimplification or by loyalty to Trump. — 00:02:01
  • 2020-11-20 · Would I Take a COVID Vaccine? — Hank: Politicians don't develop vaccines, and the rules for testing vaccine safety did not change at all in the last year: scientists deliberately changed nothing. — 00:01:30
  • …and 18 statements more in 2020 — all statements of 2020

2021

  • 2021-01-15 · Influencers and Insurrectionists — The description says Facebook, Fox News and Trump, blamed separately for radicalization, increasingly feel like the same thing: each informs the others in a loop, Trump being the essence of a conservative radio host. — video description
  • 2021-03-05 · How Much Hope is OK? — Hank calls it a relief that a mean, petulant, victimhood-based presidency was being forgotten quickly, maybe a little too quickly. — 00:00:00
  • 2021-03-26 · Why I'm Worried about 2021 — Hank: We are exiting four years of a president whose favorite pastime was fanning the flames of anger and frustration with each other. — 00:02:55

2022

2023

  • 2023-11-03 · We Need to talk about Sarapocial Relationships — The description says those best at sarapocial relationships are often people Hank dislikes, like Trump and Musk; being good at something does not mean being good. — video description
    • Hank says the share of nerdfighters who voted for Donald Trump is much lower than in the general population. — 00:03:28
    • Hank says these traits arose naturally: the brothers did not set out to attract non-binary people or exclude Trump voters. — 00:03:28

2024

  • 2024-01-05 · I'm Scared of 2024...So Here's 3 Optimistic Thoughts — Hank is certain Donald Trump will be on the ballot in November, which puts him way too close to being president again, something absolutely possible. — 00:01:03
  • 2024-07-05 · Should I Run for President?? — Hank points to Donald Trump as a sign that outsiders aren't effective: his was the most dysfunctional administration in living memory. — 00:02:59
  • 2024-07-19 · The Assassination Attempt and the Comfort of Certainty — Hank says he gets stuck on the internet after major events like the attempted assassination of Donald Trump; when Katherine asked why, he couldn't explain. — 00:00:00
  • 2024-09-13 · My Governor is Weirder than Yours — Ryan Busse: Busse says that although Trump may win Montana by 10 to 20 points, Obama lost the state by only about three and a half to four points. — 00:25:15
    • Hank says candidates used to be judged on policy plans; now vibes matter, with a party led by a man who has never accepted losing an election. — 00:37:51
  • 2024-11-08 · These Maps are Lying (if you let them) — Hank says maps that colour land make it seem the whole country votes Trump, but land does not vote. — 00:02:13
    • Hank says his brain reads the swing map as more people voting Trump, but Harris may have got fewer votes than Biden, or both changed; it shows only margin change, no absolute numbers. — 00:03:33
    • Hank thinks over the next four years people will need energy to push back against the weirdest and wildest things the Trump administration will want to do. — 00:05:01
  • 2024-11-22 · Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment — Hank says Trump is a product of a post-media-revolution rise in populism, with grievances, attacks on institutions and a new unregulated medium, without being the same as Coughlin or Hitler. — 00:06:11
    • Hank says Luther, Father Coughlin, Donald Trump and other anti-establishment populists who rose after media revolutions share one trait: recklessness. — 00:12:18
    • Hank says the shift to authoritarians is an internet phenomenon, not a post-COVID one: you cannot imagine Donald Trump without Twitter. — 00:15:41
  • 2024-12-20 · Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones… — Hank reports internet theories that the drones are aliens, a deep state plot against Donald Trump, or a distraction from healthcare frustration and the murder of Brian Thompson. — 00:01:27
  • …and 12 statements more in 2024 — all statements of 2024

2025

  • 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Ezra Klein (quoted): Hank cites the line from Ezra Klein's essay he has been thinking about all week: Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president. — 00:02:34
    • Hank says the Constitution is more powerful than Elon Musk or Donald Trump not just through legacy or law but because it is a good document that we collectively believe in. — 00:04:36
  • 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says President Donald Trump definitely knew this when he raised it in the State of the Union this week (week of 3 March 2025). — 00:05:04
  • 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says one of the broadest current misconceptions about the US government is that the Trump administration is shrinking the federal government through DOGE. — 00:00:00
  • 2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Trump's reasons for the tariffs contradict each other: permanent revenue for tax cuts, a negotiating tool that must be lifted, and bringing manufacturing back. — 00:09:04
  • 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the check broke down because the president punishes party members who step out of line, using social media to rally online supporters and primary challenges, cowing them. — 00:05:18
  • 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the Trump administration's latest budget proposal would cut US funding for the Global Fund by 50% and change how that funding works. — 00:01:56
  • 2025-06-13 · Moving to Hope from Hopelessness (3 ways) — Hank: Paraphrasing his hankschannel video, Hank says the Trump team widens rifts and capitalizes on chaos: infringing rights faster than courts can act makes people try to stop them, creating conflict. — 00:00:29
  • 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says President Trump's attacks on universities are, to his eye, less intense than those cases or than they could be, but reflect the same broader pattern. — 00:00:24
  • 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says the penny is still legal and US law still requires the necessary amount to be made, but the Treasury under Trump has decided the necessary number is zero. — 00:00:07
    • Hank says Trump apparently did not need Congress: it comes down to two readings of a law requiring the Treasury to mint the coins necessary to meet the country's needs. — 00:01:25
  • 2025-12-19 · My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun — Hank predicts that AI, a big new force one side loves and the other hates, has a good chance of doing a lot of damage to Trump's coalition. (hedged) — 00:03:25
  • …and 47 statements more in 2025 — all statements of 2025

2026

  • 2026-02-03 · Does the truth still matter? — John says the video won't reach a representative sample of America: a recent Nerdfighteria Census found more community members voted for Jill Stein than for Donald Trump. — 00:00:29
  • 2026-10-30 · The Last Normal Year — Hank recalls Pizzagate, and Donald Trump being elected president just days after Hank's son was born, which he found weird. — 00:01:30

Also named in other years (nothing said): The Greek Debt Crisis Explained in Four Minutes (2010-04-30)