Amid feud, Trump posts AI video of him tossing Stephen Colbert into dumpster

Trump shared a captionless AI-generated video showing himself dumping Stephen Colbert into a trash container and dancing to "YMCA", reviving attention around their years-long public feud.

In Short

• Stephen Colbert signs off emotionally after 11 years hosting CBS programme
• Trump-Colbert feud intensified through years of sharp political satire
• Jimmy Kimmel also faces repeated attacks, pressure from Trump administration

US President Donald Trump appeared to celebrate the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert by posting an AI-generated video showing himself throwing host Colbert into a dumpster shortly after the show aired its final episode on Friday.

The video, shared without a caption, depicts Trump dragging Colbert toward a trash container before tossing him inside and breaking into his trademark dance moves to the Village People song "YMCA".

The clip quickly drew attention online because of the long-running feud between the Republican president and one of his most persistent television critics.

The post came just hours after Colbert signed off from CBS following nearly 11 years as host of The Late Show.

The comedian ended the programme on a celebratory and emotional note, leaning into music, nostalgia and comedy rather than politics.

For his farewell episode, Colbert welcomed several longtime friends and fellow late-night hosts, including Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon. The group, collectively known to viewers as “Strike Force Five,” paid tribute to Colbert’s influence on late-night television.

"We came to say, we're going to miss you," Kimmel told Colbert during the show.

Meyers added: “Yeah, without you. Where will Americans turn to see a middle-aged white man make jokes about the news?”

The finale also featured music legends Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello, while current and former band leaders Louis Cato and Jon Batiste joined the celebrations.

Colbert and McCartney performed "Hello, Goodbye" before symbolically turning off the lights at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater, the historic venue where the Beatles made their American debut in 1964.

The finale also included surreal visual effects in which the theatre and the show itself were swallowed by a giant green wormhole resembling the CBS logo.

THE TRUMP-COLBERT FEUD

The public sparring between Trump and Colbert stretches back years, with the comedian repeatedly mocking Trump, his administration and the MAGA movement during nightly monologues.

Trump, in turn, frequently attacked Colbert on social media, questioning his ratings and calling him untalented.

In one of his harshest attacks last year, Trump described Colbert as a "pathetic trainwreck" and urged CBS to "put him to sleep" immediately after the network announced the show’s cancellation.

CBS insisted the decision was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," but critics alleged political pressure may have played a role as Paramount Global pursued regulatory approval for its merger with Skydance Media.

Colbert never directly blamed Trump for the cancellation, although several comedians and supporters did.

On the eve of the finale, Bruce Springsteen told Colbert: "You're the first guy in America who lost his job because the president can't take a joke".

RIFT WITH JIMMY KIMMEL

The tensions between Trump and late-night television have not been limited to Colbert.

Trump has repeatedly targeted Jimmy Kimmel, demanding that ABC fire the comedian over jokes involving the president, the Epstein files controversy and First Lady Melania Trump.

Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended in 2025 after remarks involving conservative activist Charlie Kirk triggered political backlash and regulatory scrutiny.

Colbert’s departure marks the end of the Late Show franchise that began under David Letterman in 1993.

It also underscores the growing political and commercial pressures facing late-night television at a time when audiences increasingly consume clips online rather than through traditional broadcast viewing.

Trump’s AI-generated video, posted immediately after Colbert’s final sign-off, is likely to intensify debate over political influence, media freedom and the increasingly combative relationship between the White House and America’s late-night comedy circuit.

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