President Donald Trump has called for CBS to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert right away, labeling the host a 'pathetic trainwreck' in a series of late-night Truth Social posts. The outburst followed a December 23 rerun of Colbert's monologue mocking Trump's recent takeover of the Kennedy Center Honors. Trump also renewed demands to revoke broadcast licenses for networks critical of him.
On December 24, 2025, at 12:16 a.m. ET, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing Stephen Colbert amid the final season of The Late Show on CBS, set to end in May 2026 due to financial reasons in late-night TV. "Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success," Trump wrote. "Now, after being terminated by CBS, but left out to dry, he has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings. Stephen is running on hatred and fumes ~ A dead man walking! CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!"
Seven minutes later, Trump questioned which network had the worst late-night host among CBS, ABC, and NBC, claiming they shared "High Salaries, No Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!" He reiterated calls for the U.S. government to terminate broadcast licenses for networks and shows negative toward him, MAGA, and the Republican Party, stating, "I say, YES!" Trump then posted "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!"
The posts responded to a December 23 rerun of The Late Show's December 8 episode, featuring guests Sigourney Weaver and Mandy Patinkin. In the monologue, Colbert ridiculed Trump's self-appointment as chair of the Kennedy Center's board and his hosting of the Honors ceremony, held earlier that month at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center—a move experts deem illegal. "This year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony is the very first since Trump installed himself as chair of the Kennedy Center’s board," Colbert said, drawing boos. He joked about Trump's divided attention: "‘Mr. President, Mr. President, Russia has just launched another round of missiles. But first, dress rehearsal for ‘Oklahoma’ is underway, and the blocking is uninspired.’"
Colbert dismissed his Trump impression efforts: "I don’t know how much effort I’m putting into the impression [of Trump] anymore. And I don’t care… Fire me!" He fact-checked Trump's confusion between Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel regarding past hosting, noting, "Jimmy Kimmel has never hosted the Kennedy Center Honors… But here’s the thing: I did, the three years leading up to Trump becoming president."
Colbert also mocked Trump's recent FIFA Peace Prize as a "fake" consolation after Nobel failures, likening it to a knockoff Super Nintendo, and quipped about a fictional Hooters National Book Award: "It was the breast of times, it was the worst of boobs."
Earlier, after CBS's cancellation announcement, Trump gloated that he loved Colbert getting fired, prompting Colbert's censored retort: "Go fuck yourself." The December 23 Kennedy Center Honors broadcast on CBS largely avoided the new name, per network instructions, though some graphics referenced it as a Donald J. Trump and Kennedy Center production.
