Late-night hosts took aim at Donald Trump's state visit to Japan this week, as the US government shutdown entered its fourth week with no end in sight. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the comedian highlighted the surreal nature of the trip, showing footage of Trump wandering aimlessly through a palace ballroom with Japan's prime minister. 'It's like he's lost at the mall,' Kimmel said.
Kimmel also noted Trump's rambling speech to troops aboard the USS Washington, where he discussed magnets, windmills, sharks, and steam power. 'He hates magnets, windmills and sharks. But he loves steam,' Kimmel reported, adding that Trump claimed he would revert to steam power via executive order.
Turning to the shutdown, Kimmel criticised House Speaker Mike Johnson for claiming there was nothing Trump could do. 'The guy who's ended eight wars, a man who ended wars that never even started, can't do anything about this?' Kimmel marvelled. He also noted that far-right members of Johnson's own party, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, had demanded to see the Republican plan for healthcare. Johnson refused, 'because there is no Republican plan for healthcare', Kimmel said.
On the Late Show, Stephen Colbert thanked Japan for 'taking in our president for a few days, so the rest of us can just have a little break'. He joked that Japan's gifts of fireworks and cherry trees were an attempt to avoid Trump's tariff spree, adding: 'Or, as it will be known in history books: how Eric Trump started the DC wildfires.'
Colbert also focused on Trump's comments to troops about using the military to secure troubled cities. 'There it is, in plain English, telling the military he's going to use them to invade America,' Colbert said. 'And those American cities better watch out, because according to Trump, our military is set to go GI Joe.'
On Late Night, Seth Meyers mocked Trump's claim of having the best polling numbers ever, and joked about a photo of an over-tanned Robert F Kennedy Jr. Meyers also referenced the White House's timeline defending its East Wing demolition, which included the supposed discovery of cocaine during the Biden presidency. 'OK, but it clearly wasn't his,' Meyers said, showing a photo of Biden sleeping at his desk.
