The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump Puppy-Dogs Japan’s New PM and Rants About Magnets to U.S. Troops | Lucy Dacus

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

Desi Lydic breaks down Trump’s trip to Japan, which included a shockingly firm handshake from new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, decadent gifts to win the president’s heart, and a quick survey for the U.S. Navy about magnets. Plus, Troy Iwata is pretty sure Trump's embarrassing antics in Tokyo are the worst things America has ever done to Japan. Grammy Award-winning musician Lucy Dacus joins Desi Lydic to discuss “Forever Is a Feeling: The Archives,” an expanded edition of her latest record, which has been called the “most romantic album of 2025.” They talk about what makes a good love song, why writing this music felt like therapy, whether fame has impacted her creative process, and how her song “Best Guest” inspired her to get ordained and perform weddings on tour at a time when the Trump administration is threatening LGBTQ+ unions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central is America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show with your host, Desi Leidens. I'm Debbie Lighting. I'm Jesse Lighting. We've got so much of this. talk about tonight. The government still hasn't come back from buying cigarettes. Trump tours Japan and manages not to do the accent. And later on in the show, Lucy Dacus, unfortunately, she said I cannot sing back up. So let's kick things off with the headlines. The government shutdown is on day 28, which is when it sheds its uterine lining. So buckle up, it's going to be a rough ride.

And the longer this goes on, the worst things get. Air traffic controllers are getting exhausted, Americans are about to lose SNAP benefits, and the White House is falling apart. Oh, I'm sorry, what? Oh, that was done on purpose. This is the perfect time for President Trump to meet the moment with his famous deal-making skills

and master-negotiating to end this shutdown. President Donald Trump currently on his way to Asia for a high-stakes tour of the region. Okay. Government will be here when you get back, maybe. Boys' trip. Let's get into it with our ongoing segment, Trump meets world. International humiliation, one after another.

Donald Trump is spending the week in Asia, and today he was in Japan. to meet their new prime minister, Sinai Takeichi. She's Japan's first female prime minister. She's also their first Japanese female prime minister. Although I'm told in Japan that's not really a big deal. If she were America's first Japanese female prime minister, I mean, come on. Herstery. Anyway, good news.

It's already looking like the beginning of a big, beautiful friendship. In her diplomatic debut as prime minister, Sinai Takaichi heaped praise on President Trump and vowed to make new investments in the U.S. Very strong handshake. Very strong handshake. So if you see any weird bruises on my hand, that's why. Although it's not surprising when a woman has a strong handshake.

We build up our strength by clutching our keys between our fingers at night, like a patriarchy Edward Scissorhands. Now, the purpose of Trump's visit was to discuss critical trade agreements and reaffirm our alliances. But first, Donnie gets presents. Takaiichi, even at this bilateral meeting, we saw her gift Trump, a golf club.

She also gifted him a golden golf ball. Wow. Okay, she is a great gift giver. A golf ball covered in gold? That is a combination of two of Trump's favorite things. I mean, how could you even top that? Maybe in Epstein Island, made of Lee Greenwoods? And after the gift giving, it was time for some ceremony.

So the prime minister showed off her new friend Trump to a gathering of uniform soldiers. We see here in this solemn moment of respect, two allies totally in sync. Wait, wait, wait, Mr. President, where are you going? Nope, that's the kitchen. Whoops, nope, over here. Mr. Trump, back over here. Hold on.

Oopsie, Daisy. But aside from that one slip-up, President Trump did a great job of letting the Prime Minister walk him from one side of the room to the other. It kind of makes me wonder if Donald Trump could have a real future as a show dog.

Introducing one of the favorites of tonight's show, The Old American Beaverhound. Mm-hmm. He is in the care of expert handlers Senai Takaichi. Lively, aggressive, and incredibly horny, the beaver hound is especially popular among rural white families. That's right, and judges tonight

will be looking for the hallmarks of a good beaver hounds. Strong veneers, Gryphi cancels. Whoops, it looks like he's wandered away from his handler. That's going to cost him some points. Okay, he looks like he's back on track now. Excellent form on that turn. The beaver hound's golden name is glistening. Indeed, and now one final trick,

a leap onto the platform. And... Nailed it! Wow! What a performance by the old American Beaverhound. Oh, who's a good president? Not you. Not you!

Of course, it wouldn't be a Trump trip overseas without a visit to the U.S. troops who are stationed in every country in the world for reasons that are never quite clear. And after the prime minister made Trump feel so comfortable, he thought it was only fair for him to return the favor by bringing her along to make her feel, feel uncomfortable.

But the cherished alliance between the United States and Japan is one of the most remarkable relationships in the entire world. Really, there's never been anything like it. Born out of the ashes of a terrible war, our bond has grown over eight decades. Look at her face. We all know that face. That is the look of a woman who's going to be talking about this. of war thing the second they get to the car.

I'm not going to embarrass you in front of your friends, but we will talk about this later. But I'm glad the president is having such a fun time while the government's shut down. Speaking of which, let's just check in to see how the negotiations are going. People keep commenting to me, you look so tired on TV.

I am so tired because we're not sleeping a lot. We're working overtime. Oh, yikes. Yeah. It's okay, though. In my experience, Attire Johnson should be back up and ready to go in like 30 minutes. 20 if he's been eating oysters.

And look, Mike, I know shutdown negotiations are tough, but President Trump is in Japan working just as hard. Now remember, troops, don't be gay. Don't be gay. Now, I don't want this to imply that this speech was entirely jerk off dancing. Trump did have some important updates for the troops stationed in Japan. I'm going to sign an executive order. When we build aircraft carriers, it's steam for the catapults, and it's hydraulic for the elevators.

You know, the new thing is magnets. So instead of using hydraulic that you can be hit by lightning and it's fine you take a little glass of water and you drop it on magnets I don't know what's going to happen. What?

What the fuck are you talking about? You don't know what's going to happen if you get water on a magnet? The magnet gets wet. That's it. It's a magnet, okay? Not a gremlin. Here, you know what?

Let me show you. Water, magnet, and water. See, nothing happens. What? What? Damn it. Well, when he's right, he's right, he's right. Now, Trump obviously didn't spend the whole time talking about magnets.

He also asked the troops how they felt about magnets. Which is better? Hydraulic? Or magnets? What the hell is wrong with these things? Well, that's a scientific poll if I've ever seen one. Which option do you like? The one that I, your boss, prefer, or the one that I have an unhinged vendetta again?

I am so curious how military recruitment is going to work in this country. Question one, do you promise to serve this nation and protect the Constitution? Question two, do you f*** with magnets? By the way, Trump has been baffled by magnets for quite some time. Now, all I know about magnets is this. Give me a glass of water. Let me drop it on the magnets. That's the end of the magnets.

Instead of using hydraulic, they used magnets. And nobody needed magnets until they convinced everybody 20 years ago. Let's all do magnets. But it should have never gotten that way because we should have been doing the they call it magnets. Well, I guess this is what happens when your parents don't want to put

any of your pictures on the fridge. Oh. Oh, honey. Oh, honey. We'd love to. But all the magnets got wet. No, that's how they work. They work. Anyway, it was your classic.

Trump speech. Weird nonsensical ranting, a weird nonsensical survey. But there was one moment I didn't quite expect. I never forget that our ultimate strength has not come from equipment. It comes from you people, incredible people, good-looking people. Too many good-looking people. I don't like good-looking people. I never liked good-looking people, I'll be honest with you. I've never admitted that before. What? You don't like good-looking people? That's the last. category of people we thought you liked. We already know that you don't like fat people, ugly people, women people, Democrat people,

prosecutors. Why not good-looking people? Because, you know, they're attractive and you're attracted to them. So the two of you are drawn together like a pair of magnet. Oh. Okay, now it all makes sense. I see. For more on Trump's visit to Japan, we go to Tokyo with our very own Troy Iwada. Troy, what's the latest? It's wild, Desi. President Trump stomping all over the place, humiliating them and embarrassing their prime minister.

This is the worst thing America has ever done to Japan. I can think of worse things America has done to Japan. Oh, yeah, name two. Never mind. But look, it seems like the trip is going, pretty well, for Donald Trump, at least. Yeah, yeah, a little too well, if you ask me. Really not looking forward to our president

becoming a Japan guy. Sorry, what is a Japan guy? It happens all the time. A white guy goes to Japan, has a great time, you know? And then he comes home obsessed with Japanese culture, talking about all the bullet trains, mounting a katana on his wall, pronouncing it karate.

Like, it's karate. Karate! Oh, my God, you're so right. Those guys are the worst of all the guys. I know, I know. And, you know, they seem normal at first. And then you go over to their house and they answer the door in a kimono

asking you to take your shoes off. You're like, okay, Brandon, son. Like, you live in a walk-up in Brooklyn. My shoes are the cleanest thing here. And they love talking to me because I'm half Japanese. I'm from California, okay? And I don't watch anime.

I'm an adult. Yeah, I know what you mean, Troy. But isn't it just respectful to show some appreciation of Japanese? Japanese culture? No. No. They take it too far with everything.

Okay, when you order sushi, Alaska roll, California roll, Philadelphia rule, those are named after places you know for a reason. Okay? Those are your rolls. Know your role. But, like, Japan guys are diving way too deep into the menu. Like, do you really want Donald Trump try and to say the word nigeri?

No. It's too close. It's not worth the risk. Not worth the risk. Too risky. But look, maybe this will work itself out. Trump's on his way to South Korea. Maybe he'll get into their culture and just forget all about Japan.

Excuse me? OK, Korean culture will never overpower Japanese culture, all right? Japan is dominant. It's basically the America of Asia. They colonize everything, lovers of beef, some of the world's best and most creative porn. Hey? I'm getting big America vibes here in Tokyo. Wait, Troy, you're in Japan right now talking about how influential the United States is.

I hate to say it, but you're kind of being an American guy. Oh my God, you're right. Last night I sang karaoke. I sang Sweet Home Alabama. And I went to a wagu place and I ordered a cheese steak. Go, birds! What am I saying? Oh, my God. Don't worry, Troy, we'll get you home. Troy, you ought to everyone. When we come back, we see Jakeis will be joining us, so don't go away. With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining

means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ, built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence, while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress.

Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus at OnePeloton.ca. Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is a Grammy Award-winning musician who recently released an expanded version of her latest album, Forever is a Feeling, The Archives. Please welcome Lucy Dakis. Oh, my God.

Oh, I don't think our staff has been so excited to have a guest before. Everyone is thrilled that you're here, as is the audience, obviously. Oh, my God. Thank you for being here. Congratulations on everything. Your new album, Forever is a Feeling, was described as the most romantic album of 2025. cute what a perfect time to have you here the most romantic season in the holiday of Halloween so romantic I know a lot of people who got together on Halloween I bet you do I feel

like the costumes alone I know I mean everyone's in their sexiest little thing oh yeah so I feel a lot of love starts there you in sexy little things I guess so totally I want to talk about the creative process for writing this album, you talked about how this was your first time really exploring writing love songs. What do you think makes a great love song? I love songs that admit that you don't know everything. I think that some love songs that I still love are like, I need you forever, or I'll die without you or something. And though those are great songs, I don't think it's like aspirational. So, uh, right? what do you think about it?

So I tried to write a lot of songs that were still very passionate, but based in the reality that everything passes, including maybe the love that you're so passionate about in the moment, but it's still worth doing. Yeah. I love that you said, writing is the research project of my own thoughts.

What was the writing process like for this? album compared to other previous albums. I guess on my other records, I was writing about things that happened years ago, like processing them finally. Have you ever done therapy? Wait, I shouldn't ask. I mean. Can we treat this like a session now?

Sure. I can't get enough therapy. Do we have tissues? Yes. Please bring them out. But like in therapy, sometimes there's like a red alert crisis and you need to talk about that as it's happening and then other times you're like, you know what, I'm ready to talk about my mom 10 years ago or something.

Love you, Mom. I don't know. I'm not talking about you in therapy at all. No, but we're all talking about our mothers in therapy, if we're being honest. Yeah. Yes. So I think those records are more like, oh, let's go look

at the backlog, whereas this record was like, what is happening to me? I need to be thinking about it right now, because I have decisions to make. And so it felt very urgent. Yeah. The, I want to talk about your song Lost Time. There's a lyric that really stuck with me.

Nothing lasts forever, but let's see how far we get. So when it comes my time to lose you, I'll have made the most of it. Which feels equal parts, deeply romantic and cynical, all at the same time. I don't know about cynical. It's sad. Yeah.

Like, just loss in general. Right. But I think that that's real, because whether you lose the person because you're not right for each other anymore, or, you know, death comes. Why am I always doing this? It's a very uplifting album.

It is so uplifting. I think it is. No, it actually is truly is. It truly is. It's really it. It's deeply romantic and so inspiring and so beautiful. I want to talk about how fame has impact of your. creative process you had this incredibly successful solo career and then you got

together with your boys and boy genius took off like crazy and you reach this insane amount of fandom and fame how how does that impact your creative process when it comes to writing because you're you're writing from such a deep personal place but you're you also have this other thing happening which is this massive fame do you have to to deal with those two things at the same time, or do you not let it affect you? Luckily, writing, I don't really know how it's happening. Like, I think I tend to write just whatever is coming to mind.

And so sometimes I'll write about the experience of being known more, because it's odd and it changes your personal relationships. Like, I think a really widespread feeling that, like, friends of mine have had, and I have too is that you're the same guy, but everyone else changes. You're like, wait, why do you think I'm different?

Yeah. But you are different. As much as anyone else is, it's just that everyone's watching you, so it's more obvious. Right. I say that like I know. Like, oh, right. Totally. Yeah.

Because I'm so famous. I totally get it. You are. I'm in your house actually right now. So this is your table. This is my table. Yeah. Let's not forget.

You heard her. You've said before that you don't see any separation between politics and art. Do you look at those two things as clearly one influences the other, but what came first for you? Was it freedom of expression that led you to music? Or did music, did you just wake up and go, holy fuck I can sing? And that led you to explore your expression? I think that when you're born, you have every art available to you.

and what actually happens is you are told or you think I can't do it. Like you do wake up singing. Everybody wakes up singing, everybody wakes up having images in their head and dreams and things. So I'm just lucky that no one told me I couldn't or like no one got annoyed. It takes such a small thing when you're a kid. Like if an adult says like be quiet one time, you don't know if they mean for five minutes or the rest of your life. So, uh... This is like a therapy session.

I know. You would make a great therapist, by the way. I think you should keep doing what you're doing, but just know that you're also a great therapist. I have an off-ramp. What was that like growing up in your household? You must have had parents that were incredibly encouraging. Were you singing all the time?

Yeah, shout out Sandy and Ben. I don't know. I'm like working... But my mom is an elementary school music teacher, and my dad is a freelance graphic designer. So they both thought it was very important to make me do things. There was actually a rule in my house

that I wasn't allowed to say I was bored. It was treated as a bad word equal to the real bad ones. And my punishment was that I had to make a drawing. And my dad would be like, oh, you said you're bored, five drawings. And it'd be like being grounded. I'm going to steal that. You can.

I'm going to use that with my son. Because I will say, I truly believe that some of, like, for my son anyway, like his best ideas come from when he's incredibly and deeply bored. Boredom is very fruitful. People should not be scared of that. Yeah, I'm stealing that. You don't mind, right? I'll give you credit.

Give Bandakis credit. Honestly, your parents must be so proud of you. Yeah, they're cool. Yeah, they did a good job. Thanks. They... Your song, Best Guest, has been used by your fans for proposals and weddings so much that you decided to get ordained and have been performing weddings at your concerts.

What, what, how did you decide to start doing that? What inspired that? I wish I had thought of it a long time ago, but we started doing this in July, and I gave people like three days notice before our first show of tour and people showed up and had their marriage licenses and danced on stage in every city that we've played since people have signed up to get married and it's been really sweet. I, you know, the thought occurred about a year ago when Trump took office and it just, he came for trans rights so quickly and that affected so many and my friends, and my mom actually was like,

he's gonna come for gay marriage and, or marriage equality. And I think it's November 7th that they're hearing some cases in the Supreme Court that might affect equal rights. Who knows? Whatever the case is, it's just such a colossal, miserable waste of time to, like, trying, like, why?

It's very competing. So I just thought it would be fun, And it's really sweet. And I think we did 154 couples. Wow. That's incredible. Now, if some of those marriages don't go well, do you do annulments for the encore?

We talked about this. I don't know how, no. Hopefully you don't have to do that. Hopefully, hopefully not. Yeah, God willing. You're performing tonight. Your song, Modigliani, my favorite lyric in this song, You Make Me Homestick for Places I've Never Been Before.

Can you talk about the inspiration behind this song? Yeah, my friend was on tour in Singapore, and I had COVID, and I was laying on the floor trying to... I'm basically saying the lyrics now, so this is going to sound very... funny when I play it, but I was literally on the floor trying to go to sleep. I was like, I wish I could call her. She actually sang on the song. It's Phoebe, who's in Boy Genius as well. And she was just in a different part of her day. And so just that feeling of like wherever the people you love are, just feeling like a kindredness with whatever they're touching.

Or like if someone who's really close to your heart goes somewhere you've never been, a piece of you is actually there. I love that that came out of you having COVID. When I have COVID, I binge watch Love Island, and that's pretty much the extent of it. You are so inspiring. Thank you for being here. Forever is a Feeling the Archives is out now.

Lucy Dakin! It's the matcha or the three ensemble Cicot of Cephora of the FACC that I've been to deniches that I'm energize out of time? Mm, it's the ensemble. The format standard and mini regrouped, that's all over,

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Wi-Fi available to Aero plan members on equipped flights Sponsored by Bell. Conditions Apply. See Air Canada.com. That's our show for tonight. But before we go, today is Vote Early Day. And early voting means you can vote on your schedule. Find early voting options in your state by going to the link below. Now here it is your moment of Zelle. We went out to the George USS, George Washington, the SS George Washington. It was really great. the sailors and a lot of others we had a lot of people

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