Late-night host John Oliver tore into President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE on Sunday, saying the president doesn't understand international trade.

Oliver pointed to a past statement from Trump in which the president appeared to say that tone of voice in trade negotiations was a contributing factor to success.

"I said to somebody, 'It's really the messenger.' I could have one man say, 'We're going to tax [China] 25 percent. And I could say [to] another, 'Listen you motherf---ers, I'm going to tax you 25 percent,'" Trump said in a clip from 2012.

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"So the tone is important," Oliver said on "Last Week Tonight." "So if I were to say to somebody, 'That’s not how trade negotiations work,' that would be one thing. But if I were to say 'That’s not how trade negotiations work, you dumb motherf---er,' that would be much more effective."

Oliver added that the president is confused by "basic things" about economics, pointing to tariffs and trade deficits.

For example, Oliver notes that Trump has tweeted that the U.S. "wins either way" when it comes to tariffs. But Oliver said that tariffs are paid by importers and usually passed on to U.S. consumers, which could lead to rising prices.

“Trade is one of the most complicated issues there is technically, politically and emotionally,” he said. “Think of trade like sex — if you’re doing it right, it can be good for both partners, though the odds of that happening plummet as soon as Donald Trump gets involved.”

Oliver later said that when it comes to trade, "nothing happens in isolation," noting that while steel workers may have benefited from the imports Trump imposed on steel, a nail factory was forced to lay off its workers because of rising costs.

“Protecting steel helps steel, but hurts anything made from it,” Oliver said.

The Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny over the tariffs it imposed on China and other nations, which have in turn led to retaliatory measures from those nations.

On Monday, a survey released by the National Association for Business Economics found that about 90 percent of economists believe Trump's tariffs will damage the economy.