Donald Trump Rants About Stephen Colbert: ‘CBS Should Put Him to Sleep’

After the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony—hosted by Donald Trump—aired on Tuesday night (December 23), the President appeared to keep CBS on to watch a rerun of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

How do we know? Well, at 12:16 a.m. ET, while The Late Show was re-airing its December 8 episode, Trump took to Truth Social to rant against “pathetic trainwreck” Colbert. Despite the show already being canceled, the President also called for CBS to pull it off the air “NOW.”

“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!”

The Late Show is currently on a holiday break, but aired a rerun on Tuesday featuring guests Sigourney Weaver and Mandy Patinkin. In the episode, Colbert poked fun at Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, saying, “It seems like the commander-in-chief shouldn’t have enough time to run a theater.”

In a mocking voice, he continued, “‘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.'”

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Colbert also addressed Trump’s comments regarding his hosting of the Kennedy Center Honors. In an Oval Office press meeting, the President said he’d watched footage of previous hosts, adding, “Jimmy Kimmel was horrible…. If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”

“You can’t and you shouldn’t,” Colbert retorted before clarifying that Kimmel has never actually hosted the Kennedy Center Honors. “But here’s the thing: I did, the three years leading up to Trump becoming president!”

Trump’s Tuesday rant also took aim at the rest of the late-night. In a follow-up post, he asked, “Who has the worst Late Night host, CBS, ABC, or NBC??? They all have three things in common: High Salaries, No Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!”

He also said if 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!”

Back in July, CBS announced it was canceling The Late Show, which is scheduled to air its final episode in May 2026. CBS cited financial reasons, claiming the show loses $40 million annually. At the time, some critics argued the axing was politically motivated, with parent company Paramount hoping to appease Trump amid its merger with Skydance, which required government approval.

Colbert addressed the cancellation in the December 8 episode while discussing the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. “Just yesterday, my beloved parent company, Paramount, reportedly launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros valued at $108 billion,” the host said. “Wow. I gotta say, if my company’s got that kind of green, I’m sure they can afford to un-cancel one of their best shows.”