Stephen Colbert hit Donald Trump where it hurts: by contrasting the president’s leadership to that of one of his heroes, Winston Churchill.
Trump has a history of reverence toward Churchill, who led the U.K. to victory during the Second World War. The U.S. President even reinstated a bronze bust of Churchill in the Oval Office mere hours after assuming office in 2025.
But similarities between the two leaders do not run deep, according to Colbert, who compared a typically rambling Trump speech to Churchill’s stirring ‘We shall fight them on the beaches’ call to arms.
The late-night host played a clip of the president delivering bizarre remarks at an investors forum in Miami on Friday. After telling the crowd they could "ask him anything," Trump, according to Colbert, “took a minute to describe seeing our military in action.”
Trump said of the daily destruction videos he has been shown by his aides, “But what happened is, you have to see it. It’s very cool. Missiles launched. Missiles launched. Missiles launching. They’re launching. Okay, we’re ready. Then at 7 seconds, uh, fire, fire, fire. This is the most unbelievable thing. Fire, poom, fire, poom!”
After taking a few seconds to shake his head in response, Colbert quipped, “Stirring, stirring wartime leadership.”
“It reminds me of Winston Churchill,” he added sarcastically.
The Late Show then read out the start of Churchill’s stirring speech, but inserted Trump’s own words to mock him.
“We should fight them on the beaches like pew pew pew, ka-chow, blammo! So cool,” he said.
Trump’s affinity for Churchill was thrown into the spotlight when the president adorned the Oval Office with a bust of the politician during his first term.
It was moved during Biden’s term in office, but was brought back on the first day of Trump’s second presidency.
Trump insulted current Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer amid his refusal to allow the use of U.K. bases for initial U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran by telling reporters he is “no Winston Churchill.”
After the Churchill skit, Colbert turned to criticizing the president’s approach to Iran, saying, “We have no sense of whether the war is ending anytime soon.”
“All of Trump’s vacillating between declaring victory and threatening Iran and saying he’s negotiating led the New York Times to say the war has an ‘erratic and make-it-up-as-it goes feel’,” Colbert continued.
“Yes, this is officially America’s first improv war.”
