Late-night talk show hosts started the new year off by calling out President Donald Trump for taunting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a tweet bragging about the size of his nuclear button on Tuesday, January 2.
The hosts had plenty of content to discuss since the president shared a long string of tweets throughout the day, but they focused on the nuclear button message. “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,’” Trump tweeted earlier on Tuesday. “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
The comment didn’t sit well with the comedians and they quickly took the president to task during their shows and on social media. Stephen Colbert kicked things off by responding on Twitter. “Please don’t make me picture your ‘button,’” The Late Show with Stephen Colbert host tweeted. “Also don’t start a nuclear war, you ‘Buttonhead.’”
Please don’t make me picture your “Button.”
…also don’t start a nuclear war, you “Buttonhead.” https://t.co/kfFvLkBMk4— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) January 3, 2018
Jimmy Kimmel used his monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to give a recap of what the president did during the holidays. “Happy New Year, everybody!” Kimmel said with a laugh after reading the president’s message. “We have two maniacs with nuclear warheads bragging about who has the bigger button.”
The father of four added: “By the way, it’s only January 2. I don’t think I can take another year like last year. I might need to be put in one of those hyperbaric sleep chambers for like, I don’t know, just until 2020 or something, right?”
The former reality star, 71, was responding to Kim’s televised New Year’s Day speech. In the speech, he warned that “the entire areas of the U.S. mainland is within our nuclear strike range” and that “the button for nuclear weapons is on my table.” The 33-year-old leader also said that “the United States can never start a war against me or our country.” He also shared his interest in competing in the Olympic games in South Korea taking place next month.
Trevor Noah addressed that part of Kim’s speech on The Daily Show on Tuesday. “Kim Jong Un is the only guy I know who threatens nuclear destruction and RSVPs to an event in the next sentence,” Noah said.
“North and South Korea now want to come to the table for talks that won’t include the United States. And that’s the power of Donald Trump,” Noah continued. “No matter how far apart two adversaries are, they can always look at each other and say, ‘We better sort this s–t out before that guy gets involved.’”
The Daily Show’s Twitter account also made fun of the real estate mogul’s tweets, after he announced an upcoming awards ceremony for “dishonest and corrupt media” that will happen on Monday.
At least he thinks we’ll make it to Monday pic.twitter.com/0YFdMlj0Xs
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 3, 2018
A screenshot of the nuclear button tweet was shared on the show’s account with the caption: “At least he thinks we’ll make it to Monday.”