Stephen Colbert is skeptical Trump can stop John Bolton's Iran war, mocks Jared Kushner's immigration plan

"There's nothing better for taking your mind off a looming trade war than a looming war war," Stephen Colbert said on Thursday's Late Show. And "we might be headed to one with Iran." He explained the omens: "Rising tensions in the Middle East, American military moved to the region based on questionable intelligence — the worst Throwback Thursday ever. And I'm not the only one who feels this way — so does Donald Trump! ... In this case, Trump is absolutely right here — and if anyone knows how not to go to war, it's Donald Trump."

Except that Trump hired John Bolton to run his national security policy. "Bolton has advocated regime change in Iraq, Libya, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran — it's all promoting his business, Quagmires 'R' Us," Colbert joked. "So who's going to win this argument, the president or his national security adviser?" He was not reassured by Trump's answer.

With the possibility of war with Iran, the Defense Department really, actually sent Kiss frontman Gene Simmons out to meet the press at the Pentagon podium, and then Simmons headed to meet with Trump in the Oval Office. Colbert arched an eyebrow: "Wow, an alleged sexual harasser who wears scary clown makeup at the White House, and Gene Simmons visited?"

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"Trump was in the Rose Garden this afternoon pushing a brand new immigration plan," Colbert said. "It's slightly more nuanced than his previous strategy, 'Wall!' The new plan comes courtesy of professional daughter-husband Jared Kushner," and it favors "merit-based" immigration over family ties. "Really?" Colbert asked. "Jared Kushner is really calling for an end to giving people special treatment because of their relatives? You don't want to rethink that?"

It hardly matters. "Both Democrats and Republicans hate this plan," Colbert said, and he had a visual demonstration of what Politico called "Jared's big whiff." Watch below. Peter Weber