Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah shake their heads over Japan's one-sided Trump charm offensive

Trevor Noah on Trump in Japan
(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, The Daily Show)

President Trump "is on a 13-day trip through Asia — Fox & Friends has one less viewer," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has gone out of his way to claim Trump as a friend, treating him to matching Trump-inspired baseball hats, feeding koi with him, and hosting him for a round of golf. "All right, Shinzo, leave a few of the strokes on the golf course," Colbert said, after playing Abe's post-golf remarks. Trump, for his part, wanted to know why "a country of samurai warriors" like Japan did not shoot down North Korean missiles flying over head, Colbert noted, wryly suggesting some other Japanese characters who might be better suited for the job.

"I don't know what's worse — that Trump still thinks Japan has samurai, or that he thinks samurai warriors were trained in missile defense," Trevor Noah sighed on The Daily Show. "Poor Japan, man. Once again they have to deal with an out-of-control monster with tiny hands." Noah explained why Japan needs Trump, had a chuckle at the matching hats, compared Trump to a tourist who only eats at McDonald's, and grimaced at Trump's comments about dominating Japan economically. "You know, someone should tell Donald Trump to always stop speaking after his first sentence, because every time, that's where it goes wrong," he said, with examples.

But this is a 13-day trip, Noah said, and now Trump "heads to South Korea, where he will probably shove chopsticks up his nose and pretend that he's a walrus."

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While Trump is still in Japan, The Late Show dipped into Japanese exports, too, with a short cartoon about Trump vs. Pokemon. You can watch that below. Peter Weber

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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.