Seth Meyers turns to acting to convince 'broke' Donald Trump to accept hilarious fake TV show offer

Seth Meyers reads a scene from &quot;Chicago President&quot;

(Image credit: Late Night)

published 3 August 2016

On Monday, certified billionaire Warren Buffett challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns, amid speculation that Trump is a mere millionaire, and later that night, Trump tweeted out a photo of himself eating a bucket of KFC chicken (with a fork and knife) on his private jet. On Tuesday's Late Night, Seth Meyers connected the dots.

"Donald, I think you are not releasing your taxes because you don't have any money," he said. "I think you're broke." Meyers suggested that Trump was actually eating KFC in the back of a van, and joked: "I mean, no wonder you're acting so erratically — you're a man keeping a secret that, if exposed, will ruin you. You're like Walter White in Breaking Bad, staying one step ahead of the truth. By the debates, you're going to have a shaved head and a goatee." His team mocked up a photo, and it's not a bad look.

Meyers quickly turned from trolling to fake sympathy. "All in all, this is a sad portrait of a ruined former billionaire who is afraid to release his taxes, and we here at Late Night just can't stand to see you like this," he said. "But there is another option, Donald." That option is Chicago President, a scripted NBC show Meyers made up (and always clarifies that NBC does not condone) where Trump is president, only the White House is in Chicago for unexplained legal reasons. "This show could be the cash cow you need to get back on your feet," Meyers said, clarifying that Trump has to drop out of the race to accept the offer. "Not only will it let you show the world what a great president you are, it will have flashbacks that show how great you always were." To enhance the offer, Meyers put on a Trump wig an acted out a flashback scene that explains Trump's Vietnam deferment for — it turns out — honorable but slightly NSFW reasons. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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