Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert congratulated President Donald Trump for helping to secure the release of Israeli hostages.
“There is some good news out there,” Colbert said Monday during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Because, today, thanks to Trump’s newly brokered ceasefire in Gaza, all living Israeli hostages and almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have been released. It’s important. Credit where credit is due: Donald Trump did something good.”
Every living Israeli hostage was freed Monday after Hamas agreed to Trump’s plan for peace. These hostages include 20 survivors from the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks when the conflict began.
“Are we still canceled?” Colbert joked. “You sure? I tried. It’s kind of surprising to see him do something good.”
Colbert has been the target of Trump’s public criticisms. Colbert has often made jokes about Trump, even going on in this episode to make a joke saying he agreed when Trump said, “I don’t think there’s anything going to get me in heaven, OK? I really don’t. I think I’m not maybe heaven-bound.”
“Despite the deal, on Friday, in a truly foreseeable turn of events, Trump did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” Colbert said, then added sarcastically, “How dare you, Nobel Committee. The man is a paragon of peace. He walks in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.”
The Late Show is slated to have its final episode in May 2026.
CBS executives called the end of The Late Show “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” The show has cost $100 million to produce on an annual basis since Colbert took over in 2015.
Nielsen ratings reveal The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has an average of 1.9 million total viewers.
WORLD LEADERS CONGRATULATE TRUMP ON BRINGING ISRAELI HOSTAGES HOME
“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount,” CBS executives claimed, referring to Paramount’s merger with Skydance and recent settlement with President Donald Trump to the tune of $16 million.
However, Colbert has openly criticized his network’s parent company, Paramount, in the past. Following the settlement news in early July, he lambasted his employer for bending the knee over a lawsuit that was “completely without merit.”
