John Oliver delivered one of his most bizarre—and cutting—critiques yet of presidential excess on Sunday night’s Last Week Tonight, wrapping a serious investigation into corruption and legacy-building in a joke about, yes, a replica of Lyndon B. Johnson’s testicles.
The HBO show’s main story this week focused on presidential libraries—those sprawling, partly taxpayer-funded monuments to former commanders-in-chief. Oliver traced their origins back to FDR and explained how they evolved from scholarly archives into “shrines” that blend self-mythologizing with selective history.
The episode then turned to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation, which has recently received millions in corporate settlements from Paramount, Meta, and ABC—donations that Oliver dryly described as “definitely not shakedowns or extortion attempts, because apparently I’m not allowed to say that.”
Oliver described how the blurred lines between private fundraising and public accountability have reached new levels in Donald Trump‘s second term, calling the current system “almost designed to exploit Trump’s every personal failing.”
The episode detailed how presidents can legally solicit unlimited library donations—even from foreign governments—while still in office, and noted how Qatar’s recent $400 million “gift” of a plane to Trump will ultimately be transferred to his library foundation.
After unpacking decades of ethical gray areas—from Clinton’s Marc Rich pardon to Reagan’s airbrushed Iran-Contra displays—Oliver ended the episode with a trademark absurd flourish: an offer to trade a massive, larger-than-life replica of Lyndon B. Johnson’s testicles to any presidential library willing to make a deal.
“Obviously these testicles make the most sense in LBJ’s library,” Oliver said. “But we’re open to negotiation. If the Trump Foundation is so inclined—a full blanket pardon for me personally would do nicely.”
The “LBJ’s balls” prop, inspired by the famous audio recording of Johnson ordering custom trousers with extra room “where your nuts hang,” served as a literal embodiment of Oliver’s thesis—that presidential libraries are monuments to ego as much as history. “They’re symbols of the massive ego it takes to build one of these libraries in the first place,” he said.
Whether Trump—or any other presidential foundation—takes Oliver up on his offer remains to be seen. But as far as Oliver is concerned, the message was clear: if the system already rewards transactional self-worship, why not lean in—with a pair of brass balls to match?
Watch the full segment at the top of this post.
I have it on good authority there’s a semen stained dress and a used condom in Clinton’s Library. Also, Nixon’s library has 18 minutes of blank tape.