US President Donald Trump wasted no time marking the end of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' Just one day after Colbert's emotional 11-season farewell aired on CBS, Trump posted an AI-generated video to his personal Instagram, Truth Social, and X accounts depicting himself throwing an AI-rendered version of the host into a green dumpster — then dancing.
In the clip, which also appeared on the official White House account on X with the caption 'Bye-bye 👋,' a digitally recreated Trump walks up behind Colbert mid-monologue on The Late Show stage, lifts him by the shoulders, and tosses him into the bin before slamming the lid shut and breaking into his signature fist-dance to the Village People's 'YMCA.'
'Beginning of the End'
The video was not Trump's only reaction to Colbert's departure. On Truth Social, Trump wrote that 'Stephen Colbert's firing from CBS was the "Beginning of the End" for untalented, nasty, highly overpaid, not funny, and very poorly rated Late Night Television Hosts,' adding, 'Others, of even less talent, to soon follow.'
In a separate post, Trump was even more blunt. He wrote: 'Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he's finally gone!'
Bye-bye 👋 pic.twitter.com/5dPeXDflyh
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 22, 2026
A Farewell Colbert Kept Politics-Free
The timing made the contrast all the sharper. Colbert's final episode, which aired on 21 May 2026 at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, was a deliberately celebratory affair. At the top of his monologue, the host said the team had originally planned to do a 'huge special' for the final episode, but then realised that 'every episode is special,' and that 'the best way to celebrate is to do a normal show and talk about the national conversation.'
The broadcast featured a slew of celebrities Colbert called 'old friends,' including Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro, Ryan Reynolds, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Colbert signed off the 33-year CBS franchise by joining Paul McCartney in a performance of The Beatles' 'Hello Goodbye,' with McCartney then turning off the lights at the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Notably, Colbert's final episode made no mention of Trump whatsoever — a striking break from the combative back-and-forth that had defined much of his 11-year run.
The Cancellation and Its Controversy
CBS announced the cancellation in July 2025, with the network maintaining that the decision was based solely on financial considerations, citing the economic challenges facing traditional broadcast television. However, critics and Colbert himself suggested there may also have been political factors involved, particularly after the host raised questions about a reported settlement between Paramount and Trump, the details of which Paramount has not publicly confirmed.
Former President Barack Obama wrote on social media that 'for more than a decade, Stephen Colbert has been one of the top voices of late night — making us laugh and, even more importantly, reminding us who we are and what America stands for.' Former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote that Colbert has 'a talent for making people laugh and encouraging them to stay curious, stay engaged, and stay hopeful about the world around them,' while Hillary Clinton said she always knew their conversations were 'about more than just getting laughs,' praising his 'deep thoughtfulness, empathy, and humility.' Trump, however, had a very different send-off in mind.
Wider Concerns Over AI and Political Targeting
The Colbert clip is the latest in a growing string of AI-generated posts from Trump, who has previously shared synthetic videos depicting himself as a crowned king and a fighter jet pilot. UCLA professor Ramesh Srinivasan warned that White House officials sharing AI-generated content 'grants permission to others who are in positions of credibility and power, like policymakers, to share unlabelled synthetic content,' adding that social media platforms tend to 'algorithmically privilege' extreme content that AI tools can produce with ease — leaving 'a big, big set of challenges on our hands.'
The AI dumpster video sits at the intersection of political power, synthetic media, and press freedom. When a sitting president uses the official White House account to mock a television host hours after his final broadcast, it raises questions that go well beyond a celebrity feud — particularly at a time when the use of AI-generated content in political communication remains largely unregulated.
