Late-night hosts addressed Donald Trump’s latest rambling press conference and the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, which forced Jimmy Kimmel to cancel his show.
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert opened Wednesday’s Late Show with a message to the people of Los Angeles as they endure out-of-control wildfires. “We know that the people of Los Angeles are resourceful and kind, and they’re doing everything they can to help one another,” he said. “And we here want to send our love and concern to all of the residents of Los Angeles, who are facing what has been described as the most destructive fire in the city’s history.
“Other parts of the country are dealing with a different kind of crisis, due to record cold,” Colbert continued. “Just ask the good people here of New York.” Even parts of Texas are under a winter storm watch. “And just to stay warm, Texans have been forced to huddle around a shirtless Glen Powell,” Colbert joked.
“Speaking of natural disasters – Donald Trump,” he pivoted. At a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, the president-elect “cranked up the crazy and then ripped off the knob”.
For one, Trump blamed the FBI and the terrorist organization Hezbollah for the January 6 insurrection. “Hezbollah? I’m sorry, is he now saying that January 6 was done by Hezbollah?” Colbert exclaimed before breaking out his Trump impression for the first time in 2025: “January 6 was a day of love, it was a day of love, it was a day of peace that I have nothing to do with. It was Hezbollah, who is also the FBI, the B in FBI of course stands for Bollah.”
According to Trump, when it comes to 6 January, “people that did some bad things were not prosecuted”.
“Yeah, I’m looking at one right now!” Colbert exclaimed. “So the people who did January 6 are both misunderstood Proud Boys that you’re pardoning, and Hezbollah? That would explain the J6 choir’s new anthem: God Bless and/or Death to America.”
The Daily Show
Trump's response to the LA wildfires is a perfect reminder of what his leadership looks like during a crisis pic.twitter.com/NX02kLCSFG
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 9, 2025
“Trump is giving us a reminder of what his leadership looks like during times of crisis,” said Desi Lydic on The Daily Show. “Because while everyone else is deeply concerned with what’s going on in Los Angeles right now, Trump is handling the tragedy like the statesman that he is,” by blaming California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, whom he described in a Truth Social post as “Newscum”.
“In the midst of chaos, Donald Trump is taking action by opening up the strategic nickname reserves,” Lydic deadpanned. “Thank you, sir.”
“Quick question for Trump: do you mean New-scum or News-cum?” she added.
“Even though we can’t count on the incoming president, some people are stepping up, and it’s always heartening to see everybody coming out to help their neighbors. And I do mean everybody,” she said before a clip of actor Steve Guttenberg urging residents to leave their keys in abandoned cars on Palisades Drive, so he could move them to make way for firefighters.
“That is amazing. And not only that, but if anyone abandons a baby, he and two other men will raise it for them,” Lydic joked, referring to Guttenberg’s 1987 film Three Men and a Baby.
“Of course, as great as that is to see, officials are warning that now that the fire has reached Steve Guttenberg, it’s only two degrees from Kevin Bacon,” she quipped.
Seth Meyers
And on Late Night, Seth Meyers checked in on Trump’s campaign promise to lower grocery prices. “You talked about this like every day on the campaign trail,” he said, addressing the president. “You said this was the reason you won the election. You even brought props. Tell, how are you going to get grocery prices down?”
At his Mar-a-Lago press conference, Trump droned on about rain, not groceries: “No water comes out, because they want preserve, even in areas you have so much water you don’t know what to do. It’s called rain, it comes down from heaven.”
“That’s not rain coming down from heaven. Those are God’s tears,” Meyers responded. “He’s crying, because he has to watch this press conference.”
“As a general rule, if a guy who was just elected president is taking time out of his press conference to explain what rain is, that’s a pretty good sign he’s not going to get into the kitchen table issues,” he added. “Trump isn’t talking about bringing down costs because he can’t, and he knows he can’t, and he doesn’t care that he can’t.”
Instead, Trump seems fixated on taking Greenland from Denmark, “for national security purposes”.
“None of this will happen, but that doesn’t mean it also has zero consequences,” said Meyers. “You can’t just threaten to use the military to annex foreign countries and expect everyone to say, ‘ahah, the jokester’s at it again.’”
