Stephen Colbert reacts to Trump's attack on Venezuela

"Those Epstein files must be crazy,"
 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
A man in a suit stands on a talk show stage.
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Stephen Colbert is back with his first monologue of 2026, and like most of the other late night hosts, his focus is on Donald Trump's U.S. attack on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro.

"Do you know what this means? Those Epstein files must be crazy," the host says, pretending to flick through some papers before slipping into a Trump impression. "Bomb something! Bomb anything!"

Colbert goes on to break down exactly what happened and the aftermath, including footage of Trump speaking about U.S. plans to "run" Venezuela.

"Evidently when he says America first, he means alphabetically," says Colbert. "That's crazy, he can't run two countries at once! He can't even run."

To finish, Colbert takes a more serious tack.

"Invading a country with a moustachioed dictator and saying, 'Don't worry, their oil will pay for this war,' is kind of where I got on this train 20+ years ago," he says. "It didn't work then, and I doubt it's gonna work now. And I hope that the American people don't fall for this a second time."

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.


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