Stephen Colbert's Cartoon Trump performs President Trump's White House Correspondents' Dinner jokes

On Monday, President Trump teased parts of Tuesday's big speech before Congress, including his plan to replace ObamaCare, Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show, lingering on the part where Trump insists that "nobody knew that health care could be so complicated."

"I can think of one guy — tall, big smile, used to sit in your chair," Colbert reminded Trump. "It's just that you didn't know, okay? That's like if I performed open-heart surgery tomorrow and said, 'Wow, nobody said it would be so wet in here.'" Trump warmed up for Tuesday's speech on Friday at CPAC, where he strongly denounced anonymous sources and leaks. Trump urged people to say any criticism they have of him to his face, and Colbert accepted the challenge.

Trump's war on leakers has trickled down to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who is apparently now spot-checking his staff's phones for evidence of unauthorized press contact. "He knows for a fact there's one guy in the White House who keeps sending out unhinged tweets at 3 a.m.," Colbert joked. "It's nuts. He's gotta find him."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

One of Trump's tweets informed everyone that he will not be attending this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner, the first president to opt out of the tradition since Richard Nixon (Ronald Reagan missed the event in 1981, because he was in the hospital, having been shot). "That's disappointing, but it's not his fault," Colbert said of Trump skipping out. "That night he's already scheduled to be at the Kremlin Correspondents Dinner. He's double-booked." Really, he added, "it's too bad Trump's not going to go, because I'm sure he would have given a hilarious speech. I mean, can you imagine? Well, you don't have to." He played a clip of Cartoon President Trump delivering his roast. Watch below. Peter Weber