Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah suggest U.S. intelligence chiefs might be better schooled that Trump


House and Senate negotiators met Wednesday to negotiate a shutdown-averting deal on border security, so naturally President Trump lobbed a tweet into the "delicate, complex negotiation," like a heckler interrupting a bomb squad, Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "Luckily there is a hero riding in to save the day," Jared Kushner and his sidekicks, the billionaire Koch brothers.
"Another group that disagrees with Trump about border security is our nation's intelligence chiefs," who testified before the Senate on Tuesday about their annual Worldwide Threat Assessment, Colbert said. "One thing missing from their report? Any evidence that would support building a wall on the southwestern border." The U.S. intelligence leaders also contradicted Trump on Iran, North Korea, and ISIS. Colbert read and annotated Trump's tweeted pushback.
The U.S. intelligence chiefs also had some warnings about Russia, on the same day the Financial Times reported that Trump met with Vladimir Putin for about 15 minutes in Buenos Aires — a meeting U.S. intelligence learned about from Russia. "At what point is Putin just going to cut out the middle man and give the State of the Union?" Colbert asked.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This must be especially infuriating for Trump because "after cleaning house and firing his enemies, Trump's intelligence community is now led completely by people he handpicked," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. Trump is understandably mad that "his own intelligence officials said that everything he believes is bulls--t," but the North Korea assessment is especially "heartbreaking," he said. "Trump is running around on the streets saying he loves Kim and how much they're in love, and now his intelligence team is telling the whole world that Kim's not that into him." Anyway, America, "you have to make a choice," Noah said. "Are you going to believe the heads of the CIA, the FBI, and director of national intelligence, or the guy who doesn't believe in 'Global Waming'?" Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play