Stephen Colbert imagines Kim Jong Un's perfect response to Trump's 'Rocket Man' dig, the Mueller probe as Law & Order

Stephen Colbert puzzles over &quot;Rocket Man&quot;

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Late Show With Stephen Colbert)

President Trump is "on a trip to a very hostile region: New York City," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. He's in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and on Tuesday, he gave his first big speech to the U.N. "Of course, the U.N. was founded after World War II in hopes of creating a lasting peace, so naturally the highlight of the president's speech was threatening thermonuclear war," Colbert said. And while threatening to annihilate North Korea, "Trump doubled down on his new nickname for Kim Jong Un," Colbert said, puzzled. "Rocket Man? Mr. President, please don't give our enemies nicknames that make them sound cooler. 'I will destroy Commander Jetpack, and Adm. Ice Cream Sex Machine.'"

Trump also griped that America wasn't getting its money's worth with the U.N., and Colbert agreed. "He's right, we're paying top dollar and we're nowhere near world peace," he said. "I mean, I just saw some guy at the podium say he's going to destroy North Korea."

Kim Jong Un didn't immediately respond to his new nickname and the public threat to wipe him out, but The Late Show imagined him hitting back at Trump with an Elton John parody record that would actually be pretty amusing, if real.

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Colbert also caught up on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign. He had a lot of fun with his own nicknames for Trump lawyer Ty Cobb, who blabbed about internal Trump lawyers fighting at a steakhouse, next to a New York Times reporter. Colbert ran down all the news about Paul Manafort, and said that while Mueller's investigation is reportedly moving with unusual speed, "we don't need unusual speed, we need high speed, we need maximum warp ... I'm talking Law & Order speed." And if you're not familiar with the pace of justice on the long-running cop drama, Colbert has you covered. 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.