Dave Chappelle roasted Donald Trump's handling of the Israel-Iran conflict during his show in Abu Dhabi on Friday night.
Travelling to the Gulf days after a ceasefire went into effect, the American comedian made light of the US President's unpredictability during his performance at a sold-out Etihad Arena as part of Abu Dhabi Comedy Season.
“Trump – I don't know about this guy. I can't tell if he's going to do good or not,” Chapelle said, adding: “What a week you guys must have had over here in the Middle East.”
The 51-year-old entertainer also brought up the US President's Saturday Truth Social post announcing the air strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
“Trump wrote that 'we did a meticulously perfect attack. We have disabled their nuclear facility.' And then at the end of the post he said 'And now is the time for peace!' Word? I don’t think that’s how this works, champ,” Chappelle said.
The comedian also made reference to the March security scandal surrounding US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared attack plans on the Houthis through his Signal account.
“Trump bombed Iran, in an attack that was carefully planned on WhatsApp,” Chapelle said.
Chappelle made light of growing concern in the US over the continuing regional conflict, saying: “Everybody in America is scared. It’s not good when Bible places are in the news. That means it might be the end of times. And if it is, you know what? I had a good run.”
When an audience member yelled out the name of Palestinian-American musician DJ Khaled, the comedian questioned why the DJ has remained silent over the war in Gaza.
“DJ Khaled, let me tell you something. For a Palestinian, this man is awfully quiet right now. And as a Palestinian, how could you be that quiet right now? And why are you so fat? People are starving. He’s the only fat Palestinian on Earth right now,” Chappelle joked.
The comedian has been outspoken about the suffering of Palestinians since the Israel-Gaza war began. Last year, during his show in Abu Dhabi, he described Israel's actions in Gaza as “genocide” to cheers from the audience.
He has tempered his criticism of Trump since his re-election, urging the American leader to have empathy for the people of Palestine during his January appearance on Saturday Night Live.
And while he did not comment directly on Palestine in his latest UAE performance, he did end by making his stance on the matter clear.
“Now that I’m a big powerful voice in America, I’ve learnt that I have to be careful. I can get in some kind of trouble and they’ll try to extort me and put words in my mouth so that I come out here and lie to you,” Chappelle said.
“So if that ever happens, we need a phrase. It has to be something that I would never say. So that if I say it, you know not to listen to anything I say after that. You ready? The phrase is: I stand with Israel.”
Abu Dhabi Comedy Season 2025 is set to conclude next month with US comedian Bill Burr's performance on July 12.
