Overview
- Shortly after midnight, President Trump blasted Stephen Colbert on Truth Social as a "pathetic trainwreck" and a "dead man walking," urging CBS to "put him to sleep" immediately.
- Trump broadened the attack to all three broadcast networks, asking which has the "worst" late-night host and saying they share "high salaries, no talent, really low ratings."
- In a separate post, Trump said networks whose newscasts and late-night shows are "almost 100% Negative" toward him and Republicans should have their broadcast licenses "terminated."
- The posts followed CBS’s broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors and a rerun of Colbert’s Dec. 8 episode that mocked Trump’s role at the event.
- CBS announced in July that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026 for financial reasons, and while FCC Chair Brendan Carr has suggested potential enforcement of the public interest standard, no regulatory action has been taken.