Skip to main content

Donald Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is guaranteed to be awkward

ask trump backfires donald
Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com
It was only a matter of time: Donald Trump has accepted Stephen Colbert’s invitation to appear on The Late Show. When the two sit down together on Tuesday, Sept. 22, it’s bound to be a strange conversation. Given that Trump doesn’t have a history of responding well to criticism and Colbert dedicated a segment of his inaugural episode to ridiculous Trump storylines (and an Oreo binge), it’s fair to say that things could get uncomfortable.

While stuffing his face with cookies on the Sept. 8 show, Colbert made light of everything from Trump’s comments about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to his appearance. He did exercise restraint for at least a moment, though, calling Trump “the most whatever-it-is of all time,” rather than inserting a more telling noun. It’ll be interesting to see how Colbert handles having the wildly controversial politician in front of him. Will the Late Show host be as friendly to Trump as he was to Jeb Bush, or will he return to the tactics he used with guests on The Colbert Report?

Colbert’s interview with Bush was tame, and the two treated each other politely. Of course, Trump hasn’t always been known to play nice; he’s responded aggressively to political commentators on more than one occasion (just ask Megyn Kelly). Plus, he’s likely seen the clip of Colbert mocking him and may be feeling defensive coming into the interview.

Just what convinced Trump to appear on the show is unclear. Perhaps he wanted a chance to respond to the host, or maybe he was swayed by the premiere’s impressive ratings. After all, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert averaged 6.55 million viewers on its first night, which was substantially more than its competition from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live. There was a drop in viewership for the second episode, but 3.657 million people still tuned in.

Before his appearance on The Late Show, Trump has an interview on the The Tonight Show scheduled for Sept. 11. Meanwhile, Colbert will be interviewing several other political figures, including presidential hopefuls Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sept. 18 and Sen. Ted Cruz on Sept. 21.

Editors' Recommendations

Stephanie Topacio Long
Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…
Only Murders in the Building season 3 ending, explained
Meryl Streep wide eyed and shocked in a scene from Only Murders in the Building season 3.

Each season, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building brings an exciting new whodunit murder mystery complete with a new set of potential killers. Every season also adds impressive cast members, and for season three, that includes Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep in pivotal roles. As usual, the episodes follow Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steve Martin) as they run their own investigation to uncover the truth, creating podcast episodes to chronicle each discovery and theory.

The story in season 3 picks up where season 2 ended, with Rudd’s character Ben dying on stage in front of a crowd during the opening night of Oliver’s play. Mabel, looking on from the audience, has that “oh no, not again” face. But how does it all play out?
Everyone is a suspect

Read more
Discovery+ raises price for ad-free subscriptions
HBO Max and Discovery+ app icons.

The Discovery+ streaming service survived the mega-merger that birthed Warner Bros. Discovery, and also still exists following the launch of the combined Max service. But we might well see more folks make the switch now that Discovery+ has announced a pricing increase.

The "ad-lite" option — that's the one that has advertising in the on-demand content — will remain unchanged in the U.S. But if you want to get rid of ads, you'll have to pay $9 a month going forward, up from $7 a month. (That's just about a 29% increase if you do the math.)

Read more
3 rom-coms on Netflix you need to watch in October
Two people look at each other in Love at First Sight.

Romantic comedies are feel-good movies. They provide the audience with a feeling of love and satisfaction as a romantic relationship develops onscreen. Rom-coms are the perfect escapist movies because they are usually set in beautiful locations, transporting the audience into a world they want to experience.

Some of the best romantic comedies are on Netflix right now. For October, we chose three rom-coms you need to watch, including a mathematical love story, a budding relationship in the skies, and a film starring the queen of rom-coms, Julia Roberts.
Love at First Sight (2023)

Read more