'Like a dead person': Donald Trump reacts to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert's final episode

US President Donald Trump has welcomed The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing its final episode, saying the legendary host was "like a dead person".

The show aired for a final time on Thursday night after CBS pulled the plug on it last summer. The cancellation came as Paramount Global, at the time the owner of CBS, sought approval by the Trump administration for its $8bn merger with Skydance.

Mr Trump, who Colbert often criticised, said on his Truth Social platform: "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!"

It's not the first time Mr Trump has taken issue with the host of a talk show, with the president calling for Jimmy Kimmel to be sacked after he made a joke about the first lady.

The last episode of Colbert's 11-season show saw him being joined by Paul McCartney and other celebrities, including Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd and Tim Meadows.

"If you're just tuning into the Late Show, you've missed a lot," Colbert said, as he told the audience it was the show's last broadcast at the Ed Sullivan theatre in New York.

To boos from the audience, he replied saying: "No, no, we were lucky enough to be here for the last 11 years... you can't take this for granted."

Colbert highlighted the "joy" he and his team felt at creating more than 1,800 episodes of The Late Show.

"The energy that you've given us, we sincerely need that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years," Colbert said.

"You've given it to us. We've given it all right back to you."

Colbert pretended that Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pope, was his final guest, but the pontiff refused to come out of his dressing room because he hadn't been supplied the correct kind of snacks, especially hot dogs.

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McCartney then offered himself as a replacement, striding across the stage as the audience screamed.

"I think you'd be a perfect last guest," Colbert said. McCartney said he happened to be in the area, doing errands.

Later, Colbert joined Elvis Costello, former bandleader Jon Batiste and current bandleader Louis Cato for a relaxed performance of Costello's Jump Up.

They all joined the house band and McCartney for the final song of the night, a performance of Hello, Goodbye.

Colbert announced in March that he would be co-writing an upcoming Lord of the Rings film titled Shadow of the Past once his talk show ended.

(c) Sky News 2026: 'Like a dead person': Donald Trump reacts to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert's final episode