The Daily Show's Trevor Noah finds the tragedy and upside in Trump's reported secret-spilling to Russia

Trevor Noah on Donald Trump and secret spilling

(Image credit: The Daily Show)

last updated 16 May 2017

On Monday night's Daily Show, Trevor Noah reminded everyone that less than a week ago, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, then the very next day met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. "And then we were all, like, 'Man, it can't get any worse,'" Noah said. "We were wrong." He played a CNN synopsis of the Washington Post bombshell about Trump sharing highly classified intelligence with Lavrov and Kislyak during the meeting. "I knew something was up when we saw President Trump with the Russians — and they were smiling," Noah said. "There's only two times a Russian man smiles: the day he dies, and this."

Trump "probably doesn't even know what 'intel' is short for," Noah said, breaking out his Trump voice: "'My intelevision is the best! It gets the highest ratings! Best ratings of all.' What's really sad about this is that Donald Trump is trying to impress the Russians with the fact that he's president. They know!" There were fears that the Russian camera crew would try to plant bugs in the Oval Office, but "right now, if I were Putin back in Moscow, I would be, like, 'This is trap, no?'" he said. Russia clearly "thought it was going to be a lot harder."

Still, "before you get your hopes up, the White House has already called The Washington Post's report 'false,'" Noah said, and in any case "the chance of Donald Trump getting into trouble for this is next to nothing." Legally, the president can't leak classified information — if he discloses it, it is no longer classified. "I will say this, though, people: At least now we know there's no aliens," Noah said. "Because if there were, Donald Trump would have told us by now." He ended with his bottom line: "So the good news is, Trump listens during intel briefings. And the bad news is, Trump listens during intel briefings." 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.