Seth Meyers recaps Donald Trump's news conference, highlighting the 'especially creepy' parts

Seth Meyers recaps Donald Trump press conference — (Image credit: Late Night)

If President-elect Donald Trump's actions this month are any indication, "Trump has proven that his presidency will be a major test for our democracy," Seth Meyers said on Thursday's Late Night, setting up a closer look at Trump's news conference on Wednesday and his unresolved business conflicts of interest. At the press conference, "it was clear Trump was interested in one thing above all else, picking a fight with the media," Meyers said, and he played a highlight reel.

"Trump's hostility toward the press is the kind of thing you usually see in authoritarian regimes," Meyers said. "In fact, in an especially creepy move, Trump stocked the press conference with employees who laughed at his jokes and shouted out supportive answers to his rhetorical questions. And in case you were wondering what kind of jokes the paid staff were there to laugh at," Meyers added, he played the example of Trump denying one particularly salacious item about him in a leaked, unverified Russian dossier. Meyers then explained what exactly Trump was denying, "just for a where-we're-at-as-a-nation" check-in.

"But the heavy-handed tactics weren't the only creepy things about Trump's press conference," Meyer said, pivoting to Trump's plan to resolve his business conflicts of interest, purportedly illustrated with a pile of apparently blank documents that reporters were not allowed to peruse. Like the U.S. chief ethics officer, Meyers found Trump's plan lacking. "The reason why this is so troubling is because having a president with such a massive and opaque business empire is an open invitation to unconstitutional bribes or other types of financial coercion," he said, pointing out that Trump provided his own proof of that risk at the news conference. 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.