Donald Trump Reacts to Stephen Colbert News, Predicts Who Is Next

President Donald Trump celebrated the news that CBS is axing Stephen Colbert's The Late Show and predicted that ABC's Jimmy Kimmel would be the next host to get cut.

"I absolutely love that Colbert got fired," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform on Friday morning. "His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once-great Tonight Show."

Gutfeld hosts an eponymous show on Fox News, while Jimmy Fallon is the host of NBC's Tonight Show.

Why Is 'The Late Show' Being Canceled?

CBS on Thursday announced that it was canceling the long-running The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, citing financial reasons in a statement.

Paramount's proposed merger with Skydance Media requires Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval under the Trump administration. Paramount is the parent company of CBS.

The news came just days after Colbert, a critic of Trump, called out Paramount, the parent company of CBS, over its $16 million settlement with the president.

Paramount Global agreed to settle Trump's lawsuit, which stemmed from a claim that CBS News' 60 Minutes unfairly edited a video with his 2024 Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, to make her look better and bolster her election chances.

CBS denied the claims and said that the edits were routine. Paramount settled the suit and said that the money will go to Trump's future presidential library and to pay his legal fees.

"While I was on vacation, my parent corporation Paramount paid Donald Trump a $16 million settlement over his '60 Minutes' lawsuit," Colbert, 61, said in a monologue on The Late Show on Monday.

"As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended, and I don't know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company. But just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16 million would help."

Colbert's brand of liberal satire has seen a declining audience as Trump and MAGA rose to power again, and younger audiences prefer to consume comedy through social media, delivered by a new generation of comedians.

The Late Show has existed in some form since 1993, when David Letterman first sat behind the desk.

After he left in 2015, CBS tapped Colbert, then host of his own political comedy talk show, The Colbert Report, on Comedy Central, to carry on the franchise.

What Stephen Colbert Has Said

In a video statement posted to social media on Thursday evening, Colbert said: "It's not just the end of our show, it's the end of 'The Late Show' on CBS."

"I'm not being replaced," Colbert said. "This is all just going away. And I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners.

"I'm so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night."

Colbert made the announcement during the taping of Thursday's show.

What Could Be Next for Stephen Colbert?

Colbert faces an uncertain future once his time on The Late Show ends in May 2026.

It remains to be seen if Colbert will find a new network or try to go it alone on social media.