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Trump celebrates Stephen Colbert leaving late-night with blistering early-morning Truth Social post
By Hanna Panreck
Published May 22, 2026
President Donald Trump lambasted Stephen Colbert after his final show on Thursday, celebrating the liberal comedian's final appearance on CBS.
"Colbert is finally finished at CBS. 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. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!" Trump wrote on Truth Social at almost 2 a.m. on Friday.
Colbert officially made his final bow as host of "The Late Show" after 11 years with a star-studded series finale that refrained from getting political.
Colbert didn't even utter Trump's name during the finale.
President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) on the sidelines of a visit to Zhongnanhai Garden on May 15, 2026, in Beijing, China. Stephen Colbert on the CBS series "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
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Filling the political void was a slew of Colbert's famous friends. Among the cameos were Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro, Ryan Reynolds, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Andy Cohen, Elijah Wood and Jon Stewart, many of whom jokingly demanded to be Colbert's last guest. That honor ended up going to Paul McCartney.
Many posted flashback clips of Colbert over the years, including a question he posed to Anthony Fauci in late 2024, his victory lap when Trump lost to former President Joe Biden in 2020, among others.
Grabien founder Tom Elliott sarcastically quipped, "Going to miss Colbert & his uncanny ability to feel the pulse of the United States," reacting to Colbert asking Fauci if he thought about running for president.
Conservative commentator Stephen Miller suggested Colbert might run for president following his finale.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted a video of Colbert announcing the end of his show in 2025, but included images of Trump playing violins over the announcement.
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He asked, "Will you miss Stephen Colbert?"
Several prominent Democrats and other liberal commentators praised Colbert and paid tribute to the late-night comedian upon his exit.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., posted, "We will always stand with Stephen Colbert."
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., praised Colbert's performance alongside Paul McCartney of "Hello, Goodbye" and said, "Thanks for a great run Stephen Colbert!"
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted an old clip of her appearing on Colbert's previous show, "The Colbert Report."
"Whether riding a bicycle on Capitol Hill or joking about Congress on the Late Show, Stephen Colbert is always outspoken," she wrote. "We’re all proudly in tandem with you on your next adventure. Thank you @stephenathome!"
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CNN's Brian Stelter said during an interview Thursday that Colbert was much more than a Trump critic.
"You know, he became a voice of the Trump resistance, first during Trump's first term, now again in Trump 2.0. Politics became an inescapable part of the show, but "The Late Show" was about so much more than politics. And I think the viewers who are mourning the end of the show today, they're going to miss Colbert, the human. You know, he was ministerial in nature. A comforting presence at the end of the night. And yes, he was an outspoken Trump critic, but he was so much more than that," he said.
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Fox News' Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-celebrates-stephen-colbert-leaving-late-night-blistering-early-morning-truth-social-post