For decades, the writers of the iconic animated series The Simpsons have been credited with an uncanny ability to predict future events. The year 2025 has proven to be no exception, adding several more startlingly accurate forecasts to the show's legendary record.
Elon Musk's Fall from Grace Mirrors Springfield Saga
A decade-old episode titled 'The Musk Who Fell to Earth' appears to have foreshadowed the tumultuous year for billionaire Elon Musk. In the 2015 storyline, Musk befriends Homer Simpson and revitalises Springfield with a new power plant and electric cars. However, he soon overstays his welcome, causing massive financial losses for Mr. Burns' company, leading to DOGE-style mass layoffs that affect Homer's friends.
In reality, 2025 saw Musk join former President Donald Trump's administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Mirroring the cartoon plot, a major falling-out with Trump led to Musk's departure from the political arena, temporarily ending his foray into government.
Trump Presidency and Budget Chaos Foreseen
The show's famous prediction of a Trump presidency, made in the 2000 episode 'Bart to the Future', gained a new layer of accuracy this year. That episode implied a single Trump term that left a budget crisis for his successor, Lisa Simpson, to handle in 2030.
This fictional scenario found a real-world parallel in 2025, when the US government endured a 43-day shutdown from mid-September to 12 November. The shutdown resulted from Congress's repeated failure to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year, creating the very budget chaos the show hinted at decades prior.
The Rise of AI and an American Pope
The Simpsons also tackled the rise of artificial intelligence head-on in 2025 with the episode 'Keep Chalm and Gary On', where Bart uses ChatGPT for his homework. Furthermore, a 2005 'Treehouse of Horror' segment titled 'B.I. Bartificial Intelligence' explored themes of robotic replacement and resentment that resonate deeply with contemporary AI anxieties.
In a major global event, 2025 witnessed the death of Pope Francis and the subsequent election of the first-ever American Pope, Pope Leo XV, Robert Prevost, from Chicago. This was eerily alluded to in a 1998 episode, 'The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace', where newsreader Kent Brockman reports on a "phony Pope" with a foul mouth and high-top sneakers—a nod to Chicago's famous Air Jordan culture.
With the show approaching its 800th episode in 2026 and nearly 40 years on air, its growing list of accurate predictions continues to baffle and fascinate audiences, cementing its unique place in pop culture as an unlikely oracle of modern times.
