Stephen Colbert marvels at everything President Trump has undone in his first week

Stephen Colbert tackles first week of President Trump
(Image credit: Late Show)

"You ever regret going on vacation?" Stephen Colbert asked at the beginning of his first Late Show of the Trump administration. "'Take the week off,' they said. 'America will still be here when you get back,' they said. 'How much could he do in a week?'" After President Trump's inauguration, everyone said wait and see, Colbert noted, and we didn't have to wait long: "The line moves really fast on this ride. Every day you just get right back on the roller coaster and start throwing up. You've got to give the guy credit — he can really get a lot of things undone. From ObamaCare to climate change to torture, he's already moved the country back to 2004. If this keeps up, pretty soon I'm going to launch The Colbert Report."

Trump is the "Usain Bolt of executive orders," Colbert said, and he focused on the order slamming the door on refugees for at least 120 days, when there are more refugees in the world than at any time since World War II. He pointed out that a Christian couple from Syria with visas was sent home — "That's like saying: Welcome to Trump's America, a shining city on a — psych!" — then touched on the 5-year-old Iranian boy detained and separated from his mother, "or as Kellyanne Conway calls it, alternative day care."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.