Trump reacts – Donald Trump posted an early-morning Truth Social rant after Stephen Colbert’s final CBS episode of The Late Show, calling him a “jerk” and celebrating the show’s end—about an hour after it wrapped on May 21.
Donald Trump didn’t wait long after Stephen Colbert’s final episode of The Late Show.
On Thursday night, May 21, CBS aired Colbert’s farewell after a 33-year run for the network, with several celebrity cameos and Paul McCartney leading a sing-along of The Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye.” About an hour later, in the early morning hours of Friday, May 22, Trump—79—took to his Truth Social.
In a post shared at 1:52am ET, Trump called Colbert a “jerk” and celebrated the finale.
“Colbert is finally finished at CBS,” Trump wrote. “Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk.”
He added, “Thank goodness he’s finally gone!”
CBS had already moved toward ending The Late Show, canceling it in July 2025—just days after Colbert criticized Paramount Global over its $16 million lawsuit settlement with Trump. The network has said the decision to end the show was driven by financial pressures facing late-night television.
Colbert, for his part, had pushed back on the idea that he and comedians should be part of political attention. In a recent interview with People, he said Trump was debasing himself by paying attention to anything comedians say about him on network TV.
“The ending of the show aside, which people can speculate about all they want, and I can’t argue with their speculations, but we’re clowns,” Colbert said. “How much does it diminish the office of the presidency to even notice what we say?”
Donald Trump Stephen Colbert The Late Show CBS Truth Social Paul McCartney Hello Goodbye Paramount Global late-night television