Trevor Noah Catches Trump Telling the ‘Shady’ Truth About Russia

Confronted by reporters about the news that his former fixer Michael Cohen had pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow even as he became the presumptive GOP nominee in 2016, President Donald Trump offered up a curious excuse Thursday morning.

“We were thinking about building a building,” Trump told reporters. “I decided ultimately not to do it. There would have been nothing wrong if I did do it.” The president then added, “There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?”

That last line stood out to Trevor Noah. “Hold up, hold up, hold up, whoa, wait, did you hear what he just said?” he asked on Thursday night’s Daily Show. “He said the reason that he didn’t stop his business dealings is because he also thought he would lose.”

“Well, yeah, I agree with him now,” the host continued. “In Trump’s defense, I understand why he did it. Like, I would have told him the same thing.” If in 2016, Trump had came to him and asked whether he should shut down his business “in case” he became president, Noah said he would have told him, “Donald, there’s no danger of that happening my friend.”

“But still, man, you have to see how shady this is,” Noah added. “No president in modern history has run for office while also working a side hustle. Say what you want about Hillary, she had her faults, but one thing we never heard her say was, ‘I’m running to be your president, but in case it doesn’t work out, please give me five stars!’”