Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel try to guess which Trump official burned him in that 'scorching' Times op-ed

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel try to find the White House mole

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show)

The "alarming flavor crystals" in Bob Woodward's new White House chronicle, Fear, have refreshed that "tang of panic in the back of our throats when we remember that a former reality show star and unindicted co-conspirator is the commander in chief," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. Fear documents how "Trump's Cabinet has gone to extreme lengths to protect the country from his bad decisions," Colbert said, and while Trump calls the book pure fiction, an anonymous New York Times op-ed by a senior administration official on Wednesday begs to differ.

The op-ed "is written by someone who works for the administration, believes in its policies and goals, and still thinks the president is a dangerous idiot," Colbert said. "How many people could there be like that in the White House? I'm going to guess, count the people in the White House and subtract one." White House "staff has been defending Trump from Woodward's book all day," he added, "but now someone inside — maybe one of those same people — has found the courage to stand up and say, 'Nope, it's all true! P.S. Hide my name from the bad orange man.'"

Jimmy Kimmel read extended excerpts of the "scorching" op-ed on Wednesday's Kimmel Live. "That is really remarkable, and I have to say, I'm surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is," he joked. The "most interesting theory" on who actually wrote the op-ed points to Vice President Mike Pence, based on the word "lodestar," he explained. "This is going to drive Trump absolutely nuts. Can you imagine what it must be like to have a job at which almost everybody who works for you thinks you're a complete idiot? I can, and I'll tell you something: It's no fun at all." He had some thoughts, too, on the lightning that struck the White House on Tuesday, and you can watch that 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.