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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is demanding that late-night host Stephen Colbert be removed from the air, calling him a “dead man walking” and questioning the value of broadcast licenses for networks that host critical voices.
Trump’s Broadside Against Colbert
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“Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Dec. 24, 2025. He added that Colbert, “now, after being terminated by CBS, but left out to dry, has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings.” Trump characterized Colbert as “running on hatred and fumes.”
The former president went further, stating, “A dead man walking! CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do.” The post appeared to be a response to a rerun of Colbert’s Dec. 8 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing shortly after the broadcast of The Kennedy Center Honors, which Trump hosted.
Expanding the Target: Network News
In a follow-up post, Trump questioned which late-night host was the “worst” – on CBS, ABC, or NBC – asserting they all share “three things in common: High Salaries, No Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!” He then raised the specter of revoking broadcast licenses.
“If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES,” Trump added.
A History of Conflict
This isn’t the first time Trump has publicly attacked Colbert. In July, he celebrated CBS’s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with the final episode scheduled for May 2026. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
Colbert responded to Trump’s earlier comments with a pointed monologue, stating, “Over the weekend, it sunk in that they’re killing off our show but they made one mistake: they left me alive.” He continued, “And now for the next 10 months, the gloves are off. I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now.”
Colbert expressed his lack of regard for Trump, stating he doesn’t believe the former president has “the skill set to be president” or is “a good fit.” He then read Trump’s Truth Social post and delivered a colorful retort directly to the camera.
Trump later claimed he had no involvement in the cancellation of Colbert’s show, writing on Truth Social that “everybody” believes he was “solely responsible” but that the rumors are “not true!” He asserted the show ended due to a “pure lack of TALENT” and significant financial losses for CBS.
Trump also predicted that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon would be the next late-night hosts to lose their jobs, claiming they lacked ratings and talent.
