In a holiday season marked by political division, former U.S. President Donald Trump used Christmas Eve to launch a fresh, scathing attack on late-night television host Stephen Colbert, demanding that CBS cancel The Late Show "NOW."
A Fiery Christmas Eve Social Media Post
The verbal assault began in the early hours of December 24, 2025, on Trump's Truth Social platform. The tirade was triggered by CBS's decision to re-air a December 8 episode of The Late Show that mocked Trump for hosting the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.
"Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success," Trump wrote. He went on to claim the host was "running on hatred and fumes" and labeled him a "dead man walking." In his most provocative statement, Trump urged, "CBS should, 'put him to sleep,' NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!"
Trump Broadens Attack on Late-Night Landscape
Trump did not stop at Colbert. In a follow-up post, he broadened his criticism to include other prominent hosts, questioning, "Who has the worst Late Night host, CBS, ABC, or NBC???" He asserted they all shared "High Salaries, No Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!"
Escalating his rhetoric further, the former president suggested a drastic governmental response. He questioned whether networks that air content "almost 100% Negative" to him and the Republican Party should have their "very valuable Broadcast Licenses" terminated, answering his own query with a definitive "I say, YES!" He signed off the series of posts with a final, capitalized message: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!"
The Roots of the Feud: Colbert's Criticisms
The animosity is long-standing, with Colbert serving as one of Trump's most persistent critics in late-night television. The specific episode that sparked the Christmas Eve outburst featured Colbert quipping about the president's time management, saying, "It seems like the commander-in-chief shouldn't have enough time to run a theatre."
More recently, Colbert aired an animated holiday sketch where a character dubbed "King Jag Bag" (a clear stand-in for Trump) cancels Christmas and bulldozes Santa's workshop to build a "Trumpmas Ballroom." Colbert also previously criticized a $16 million settlement between Trump and Paramount Global, CBS's parent company, over a deceptively edited 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, jokingly calling it a "big fat bribe."
Trump's History with Late-Night TV
Trump has repeatedly celebrated news of Colbert's professional setbacks. When CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show would end its run in May 2026, Trump quickly took to Truth Social to gloat, writing, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings."
He also predicted that "Jimmy Kimmel is next," showcasing his ongoing feud with the ABC host. Just last month, Trump called Kimmel a "bum" with "NO TALENT" and demanded ABC "Get the bum off the air!!!" Kimmel fired back on his show, offering a deal: "I'll go when you go. We'll be a team. Let's ride off into the sunset together."
CBS executives have stated the decision to end The Late Show was "purely a financial decision" unrelated to the show's content or performance, citing a "challenging backdrop in late night." However, Trump's latest Christmas Eve barrage ensures the political and cultural battle between the former president and his media critics will rage on into the new year.
