This Week’s ‘South Park’ Will Take on Trump’s Tariffs Through Labubus
Proving that a new South Park will indeed drop on Wednesday as promised, the show just released a teaser for the fourth episode of Season 27. And even though Donald Trump may have died and been replaced by a double in a Mission: Impossible mask in real life, the Saddam-coded president will still feature prominently in this week’s episode.
A number of fans have been complaining that the current season’s focus on presidential politics has distracted from the goings-on at South Park Elementary. Characters like Kyle and Stan have taken a backseat to the show’s focus on contemporary issues, and its apparent passion for ridiculing Trump and his cartoonishly tiny junk.
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The latest episode, it seems, will still be about current events, but anchored by a story involving kids. The trailer just revealed that most of the episode will be about the current craze involving Labubus, the highly sought-after (possibly demonic) collectible plush accessories that have inspired actual physical fights as well as the world’s goofiest heist.
In the world of South Park, grade-schoolers are similarly brawling over Labubus, seemingly to the joy of Cartman. At one point Betsy slams Nelly’s head with a locker door for claiming that her Labubus are “knockoffs” — all of which confuses Jesus, who seems to have taken over from the recently-fired Mr. Mackey. “What is a Labubu?” the religious deity/new school counsellor asks.
For anyone worried that the school-centric South Park episode won’t include the flappy-headed Trump, the promo ends with a brief glimpse of the president exiting Air Force One, while his significant other, Satan, follows closely behind.
What connects these two storylines?
Well, the episode’s synopsis explains that “Butters experiences the reality of tariffs when he has to buy a Labubu doll for his girlfriend’s birthday.” It’s unclear who exactly Butters’ girlfriend is, but presumably it’s not Charlotte, the Canadian who immigrated to the U.S. in order to escape the Canuck Trump.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before South Park tackled Trump’s tariffs, and incorporating the Chinese-made Labubu dolls will allow the show to tackle two of 2025’s biggest news items at the same time.
Of course, it’s also possible that all of this will radically change between now and when the episode actually makes it to the air.
