Former US President Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh, vitriolic tirade against comedian Stephen Colbert, branding the late-night host a 'pathetic trainwreck' and a 'dead man walking' in a social media outburst.
A History of Hostility Escalates
The attack, posted on Christmas Eve 2025, is the latest in a series of broadsides from Trump against prominent US talk show hosts. In his rant, Trump took specific aim at the 61-year-old Colbert, whose show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, is set to end in May 2026 after CBS announced its cancellation in July.
Trump wrote: 'Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success. Now, after being terminated, but left out dry, he’s actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings.' He escalated the rhetoric by adding, '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.'
Threats to Broadcast Licences and Wider Industry Attack
Trump didn't stop at Colbert. He expanded his critique to include the major networks, posing the question: 'Who has the worst Late Night host? CBS, ABC or NBC??? They all have three things in common: High Salaries, Low Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!'
More significantly, the former president reiterated a previous threat, reported by Variety, to 'terminate' the broadcast licences of networks airing late-night shows he deems 'almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party'.
This latest outburst followed the CBS broadcast of the Kennedy Centre Honours ceremony. Trump currently chairs the Kennedy Centre’s board, a position Colbert recently mocked in a monologue. Joking about the president's priorities, Colbert said: 'It seems like the commander-in-chief shouldn’t have enough time to run a theatre.'
A Long-Running Feud with No End in Sight
The animosity between the two figures is deeply entrenched. Colbert has consistently targeted Trump in his monologues, and Trump has repeatedly fired back. In July 2025, after CBS announced the show's end, Trump celebrated online, stating: 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.'
Trump has also recently trained his fire on other hosts, including Jimmy Kimmel. In November, he reiterated wishes for Kimmel to be fired, just before it was confirmed the ABC host would deliver Channel 4's alternative Christmas message in the UK.
With Colbert's show heading towards its finale and Trump's political ambitions still dominating headlines, this bitter public feud shows no signs of abating as the new year approaches.
