Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers unpack whether Trump's really a Russian spy

Late night hosts explore if Trump is really a Russia spy

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

published 15 January 2019

"It's not every day that you can say: 'Hey, did you see the big story about Trump being an agent of the Russian government over the weekend? No, not that story, the other one,'" Stephen Colbert noted on Monday's Late Show. He began with the New York Times bombshell about the FBI opening a counterintelligence investigation of recently inaugurated President Trump to see if he was secretly working for Russia. "I think that's ridiculous," Colbert said. "There is nothing secret about it, he's just putting it out there."

"I've been talking about Trump laying footsie with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin since July of 2016, back at the Republican Convention, but when you look at the details, it's still shocking," Colbert said. He created a new game show, "Evil or Stupid?" to game out whether Trump was a Russian spy or "unwitting stooge" of the Kremlin. (America loses either way.)

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The idea that Trump is "a secret Russian spy" is "just crazy — and not because he wouldn't do it," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. "Donald Trump would be the world's worst spy." First, "he doesn't even have an inside voice," and he can't "blend in. Red tie, orange skin, blond hair — the only place he'd blend in is a jar of Starbursts." Still, "it doesn't help his case" when he does "shady" stuff like hide his chats with Putin.

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Telling your interpreter to not discuss what you told Putin is "not normal," Jimmy Kimmel agreed on Kimmel Live. "Usually when Trump wants to keep someone quiet he pays them $130,000." Still, "of course he's not working for Russia — he's being blackmailed by Russia, there's a difference," Kimmel said. This really has "turned into a witch hunt," he added, "as in, 'Which hunt are you talking about? The collusion, the obstruction, the treason, the corruption, or the tax evasion?"

Late Night's Seth Meyers listed some likely reasons why the FBI was suspicious Trump might be a Russian puppet, ending with "Vladimir Putin's smile every time he sees Trump. I mean, look at that: That's the smile Putin gives when someone says, 'We have captured James Bond.'" 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.