Trump says late night host Colbert should be 'put to sleep'

US President Donald Trump has used the Christmas holidays to launch new attacks on one of the late night television hosts he loves to hate: Stephen Colbert.

On Christmas Eve, during a repeat of a Colbert programme broadcast on December 8, the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform that CBS, the network where Colbert's show is broadcast, "should 'put him to sleep,' NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!"

He called Colbert, whose show often leads the late-night show ratings, "a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success."

Since the network announced the cancellation of Colbert's show, the host has become even worse, he said.

CBS announced in July that "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would be cancelled in May 2026. The broadcaster cited financial reasons for this decision, but many industry experts suspected that CBS acted out of consideration for the US president, since Colbert is one of his sharpest critics.

Trump, in his post, said Colbert "has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings. Stephen is running on hatred and fumes ~ A dead man walking!"

Late-night shows respond to Trump with ridicule

Since Trump's election as president, the late-night shows popular in the United States have been considered a powerful format for countering the president's right-wing populism.

While traditional media formats reach their limits when Trump distorts reality or spreads falsehoods, late-night hosts counter him with biting mockery that exposes Trump to ridicule in front of the audience.