Late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert devoted their final shows of the week to a mix of nostalgia and pointed criticism of President Donald Trump. Kimmel, on his show, told viewers that Thursday's episode would not air 'out of respect' for Colbert, whose last edition of The Late Show aired that night. 'I hope the people who did the pushing feel ashamed of themselves,' Kimmel said, referencing the controversy surrounding the show's cancellation.
Kimmel noted that the late-night landscape has changed, with hosts now supporting each other rather than competing. 'I hope he comes to visit as many times as possible,' Kimmel said, before jokingly telling his audience: 'Don't ever watch it again.' He then turned to Trump, describing the president's $10bn lawsuit against his own government and subsequent $1.76bn fund as 'an astonishingly brazen act' he would never understand. Kimmel also highlighted Trump's leaked tax records showing he paid just $750 in 2016, 'just about enough to fill your tank to Vegas and back'.
Kimmel moved on to Trump's sons 'profiting bigly' from the Iran war, and the president's renewed conflict with former Cuban president Raúl Castro. He noted a House vote to limit Trump's powers over Iran, predicting Trump would 'ignore it like he avoids the weight limit on a golf cart'. Trump's feud with fellow Republicans, including Kentucky's Thomas Massie, who lost his primary after pushing for the release of Trump-Epstein files, was also covered. 'He now has seven months left in office and nothing to lose,' Kimmel said.
In his penultimate monologue, Colbert mocked Trump's new gold cellphone, available after a nine-month delay, saying the 'only Trump item more disappointing after a nine-month wait was Eric'. Colbert also joked about the Transportation Security Administration's new rule allowing unlimited rotisserie chickens on planes: 'Thank God! I was getting tired of having to chug my chicken in line.'
