Late-night hosts on Monday discussed reports that Trump attorney Michael Cohen might cooperate with federal prosecutors, and EPA secretary Scott Pruitt’s mounting list of scandals involving taxpayer funds.

Stephen Colbert: ‘Trump should golf more’

Stephen Colbert began: “The president had a busy weekend, or rather his thumbs did, because the leader of the free world tweeted 25 times. I never thought I’d say this, but he should golf more.”

Colbert went on: “Trump hit on a variety of subjects with the tweets, but one that seemed to have stuck in his craw was a New York Times article called Michael Cohen has said he would take a bullet for Trump. Maybe not anymore.

Colbert then explained Cohen might flip because, “according to longtime Trump associate and evil Elton John Roger Stone, Donald goes out of his way to treat Cohen like garbage”.



According to the Times, Cohen was miffed that Trump lavished approval on former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and not Cohen.

“Cohen was so desperate to please Trump he went so far as to approach Melania to try to apologize for the pain he caused her with the payment to Stormy Daniels,” Colbert said, further citing the Times report.

The host then detailed more of Trump’s tweets, in which he reaffirmed his respect for Cohen and said he doesn’t see him flipping.

Colbert added: “What Trump is saying here is Cohen’s a good guy, and this is all a witch-hunt, unless he flips, in which case he’s a liar and I’ve never met him.”

Trevor Noah: ‘Hard to sleep when your bed is soaked in pee’

Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah discussed a resurfaced phone call Trump, under the alias of “John Barron”, made to a Forbes reporter in the 80s in an attempt to get himself on the magazine’s annual list of richest Americans.

“We are learning more about Trump’s infamous visit to Russia in 2013,” Noah began, detailing Trump’s claim, contradicted by James Comey’s leaked memos, that he never stayed overnight in Moscow.

“But newly unearthed flight records show that Trump landed on a Friday and left on a Sunday,” the host said. “Now, to be fair, Trump said he didn’t sleep in Moscow, and it’s probably pretty hard to sleep when your bed is soaked in pee.”

Noah went on to say that, while “it is big news Trump may have lied about his trip to Russia, it’s not really a surprise”.

“What was amazing, though, is that this weekend we also discovered Trump’s origin lie,” he said. “The bullshit foundation that he built his entire bullshit career on.”



"None of Trump's lies have ever slowed him down. At this point, the best we can hope for is that he uses his lies to help America."



Trump, Forbes, and the lie that catapulted him to the White House: https://t.co/PrqtG8PsQF pic.twitter.com/6H3LDXQAqy — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 24, 2018

Noah then showed news coverage explaining that Trump lied his way on to Forbes’ list of the richest Americans in the 80s, claiming his net worth was $100m when it was $5m. He also lied about the value of the residential units in his buildings and claimed he, rather than his father, owned various properties.

“This wasn’t just a casual lie Trump told at a dinner party,” Noah explained. “He made a concerted effort to fake interviews, references and his financial statements. At one point, he even created a fake person.”

Noah then showed audio from a phone call Trump, posing as a Trump associate named John Barron, made to Forbes reporter Jonathan Greenberg in the 80s. Trump did eventually make the Forbes 400, and, according to reports, used his statement of inflated assets to borrow billions and over-leverage himself.

“This is mind-blowing,” Noah said. “Trump lied to get onto the Forbes list. Then the Forbes list cemented him as a mogul. Then he used his mogul status to get to the White House.”

Seth Meyers: ‘There’s one very clear winner: Wall Street’

Finally, NBC’s Seth Meyers addressed the numerous investigations currently being conducted into EPA secretary Scott Pruitt’s abuse of taxpayer money.

“As Trump’s White House contends with mounting criminal and ethics investigations, it’s worth asking who is actually benefitting from this presidency,” Meyers began. “So far there’s at least one very clear winner: Wall Street.”

Meyers noted that it was reported on Friday, for the first time, how much money the nation’s largest banks have saved from Trump’s corporate tax cuts. In the first three months of 2018, they saved a combined $3.5b in taxes.

“Wall Street isn’t the only beneficiary of Trump’s presidency,” Meyers noted. “There’s also the fossil fuel industry, which is getting everything it wants out of Trump’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt.”



“Pruitt’s been plagued by a series of scandals involving the abuse of taxpayer funds,” the host said, referencing a New York Times report which noted that Pruitt is under investigation for using an EPA security detail on trups to the Rose Bowl, Disneyland, and basketball games. Pruitt, in 2033, also bought a house using a shell company registered to a former business partner, who now holds a top position at the EPA, and the mortgage was issued to a local bank run by another Pruitt associate, who’s now a top aide at the agency.

Noting that Pruitt is under 10 different investigations now, Meyers said: “Pruitt’s under so many investigations he gets a six-inch sub free of charge.”