--- description: Earlier this week, Trump’s White House released a blueprint of a “skinny budget," and John Oliver has a few questions title: John Oliver Looks at the Federal Budget on 'Last Week Tonight' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0218d05ade53789/6988befa2dce013a0a9ecb21/gettyimages-6090011701.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # John Oliver Tries to Balance the Federal Budget on _Last Week Tonight_ by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 8:34 AM CUT  JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE - "Jimmy Kimmel Live" airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. The guests for Monday, September 19 included Kiefer Sutherland ("Designated Survivor"), John Oliver ("Last Week Tonight with John Oliver") and musical guest Die Antwoord. (Photo by Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images) JOHN OLIVER JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE - "Jimmy Kimmel Live" airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. The guests for Monday, September 19 included Kiefer Sutherland ("Designated Survivor"), John Oliver ("Last Week Tonight with John Oliver") and musical guest Die Antwoord. (Photo by Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images) JOHN OLIVERRandy Holmes—ABC/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 8:34 AM CUT On _Last Week Tonight_, John Oliver looked at the federal [budget](http://time.com/4703905/donald-trump-budget-proposal-cuts/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") or as he called it, “the only beach read less appropriate than Bill Cosby’s Little Bill _One Dark and Stormy Night_.” Earlier this week, President Trump’s White House released a blueprint or “skinny budget,” which Oliver noted, “sounds like a line item which [Trump](http://time.com/4706267/trump-wiretap-house-intelligence-fbi-russia-nsa/?xid=homepage "undefined") might have included in one of his prenups.” According to Oliver, these skinny [budgets](http://time.com/4704468/trump-budget-congress-reaction/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") are almost a mood board for what the President hopes for the country, including increased military spending and decreased [funding](http://time.com/4704661/trump-budget-after-school-programs/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") for the EPA, the arts, and [Meals on Wheels](http://fortune.com/2017/03/18/meals-on-wheels-trump-budget-cut/?xid=homepage "undefined"). Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, was responsible for transforming Trump’s ideas into a budget, or as Oliver put it, he “treated Trump’s past statements the way Trump treats women, randomly singling out a few of them and then reducing them down to numbers.” > [](https://twitter.com/LastWeekTonight/status/843663415595950080) What Oliver found perhaps most surprising about Trump’s proposed budget, though, is that it could heavily impact groups that largely voted for Trump. He believes that if the President’s budget goes through as-is, which it most likely won’t, it could be the tipping point for Trump. For proof, Oliver looked to Trump’s very own book, _The Art of the Deal,_ quoting: “You can’t con people, at least not for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don’t deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.” Oliver believes that people are finally catching on to Trump. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/"},"headline":"John Oliver Tries to Balance the Federal Budget on Last Week Tonight","datePublished":"2017-03-20T08:34:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:48:44.010Z","description":"Oliver has a few questions about Trump’s proposed budget","url":"https://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/","keywords":["Television","John Oliver","Last Week Tonight","onetime","Late Night Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0218d05ade53789/6988befa2dce013a0a9ecb21/gettyimages-6090011701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0218d05ade53789/6988befa2dce013a0a9ecb21/gettyimages-6090011701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC's \"Jimmy Kimmel Live\" - Season 14","caption":"ABC's \"Jimmy Kimmel Live\" - Season 14","creditText":"Randy Holmes—ABC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/","name":"John Oliver Tries to Balance the Federal Budget on Last Week Tonight"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Paul Ryan Signals Compromise on Health Care for Older Americans: 'We Believe We Should Have Even More Assistance'","description":"Days before a pivotal vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday he will seek changes to a GOP health care bill to provide more help to older people.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pBQKy61V/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-19T20:44:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pBQKy61V.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/","duration":"PT33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```