Late-night hosts on Monday discussed Donald Trump’s claim that he can pardon himself and the resumption of diplomatic talks with North Korea ahead of the planned 12 June summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

Trevor Noah

Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah addressed the president’s announcement that the planned summit between the US and North Korea would be taking place, just weeks after it was formally cancelled.

“In general, I’m not a big fan of President Trump,” Noah said. “But the one area where I’m rooting for him is with North Korea. I want him to win that Nobel peace prize, mostly just to see him bite into it because he thinks it’s chocolate.”

The host then showed news coverage of the run-up to the summit, which Trump has reportedly coined as a “getting-to-know-you meeting, plus”.

Noah replied: “What? A ‘getting-to-know-you meeting, plus’? Plus what? Plus onion rings? Or plus a plan to shut down North Korea’s nuclear program? Maybe he means plus an NDA, because that’s usually how he gets to know someone.



“Still,” Noah continued, “the summit is officially back on. Don’t get too excited yet. If anything, I think we should treat this like the Roseanne reboot. Sure, it’s on now. But it’s only one 3am tweet away from getting cancelled again.

"We should treat this like the Roseanne reboot. It's on now, but it's only one 3 a.m. tweet away from getting canceled.”



Trevor on the latest North Korea summit development: https://t.co/F9OqKjESOT pic.twitter.com/0z7uZginOR — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 5, 2018

“For now, we can enjoy how North Korea got back on the president’s good side,” Noah said, showing news coverage of the vice-chairman of North Korea’s ruling party, Kim Yong-chol, delivering a letter to the White House, making him the first North Korean official to visit in 20 years. “Look at how excited he is about his giant envelope.

“So, what did that letter say that convinced Trump to resume denuclearization talks with North Korea?” the host wondered. “Well, that’s what reporters outside the White House wanted to know.”

When asked about the “flavor” of the letter, Trump told reporters it was a “very nice” and “very interesting” letter. Several minutes later, though, Trump said he purposely hadn’t yet opened the letter.

“There are times when I understand why Trump lies because it’s about something important, like this is the biggest tax cut in history, or no collusion, or my wife hasn’t left me,” Noah said. “But going from the letter is interesting and great to I haven’t read it in under 10 minutes: that’s just wasting a lie.”

He added: “It’s like getting to ask God one question and going: ‘Wasssuuuuupppp?’”

Stephen Colbert

“Today is Donald Trump’s 500th day in office,” Stephen Colbert began. “Which means, congratulations, we have made it through the first trimester of his presidency.”

“But for some reason, my nausea hasn’t gone away,” Colbert continued. “You know what else isn’t going away? The Mueller investigation, no matter how hard Trump tries.”



The host then read aloud a tweet Trump sent on Monday morning: “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”

“I love riddles,” Colbert joked. “I know this one. It’s because if you bring the grain over the river first, the fox will collude with the Russians to get the chicken.”



The host proceeded to share the memo, acquired by the New York Times, sent by Trump’s legal defense team to special counsel Robert Mueller, claiming Trump “could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired”.

“In the memo, Trump’s lawyers also argue that the president shouldn’t have to sit down for an interview with Mueller, because having him testify demeans the office of the president before the world,” Colbert explained. “Adding, now if you’ll excuse us, the president has to go get spanked by a porn star while watching his shark stories.”



Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, defended the president’s power to pardon himself in a television interview with Chuck Todd, Colbert noted. Giuliani added, though: “It’s not going to happen, so it’s a hypothetical point.”

Colbert continued: “He has a point. There is nothing in the constitution that stops him. After all, it says in article II, section 2: ‘The president shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons’ … which I guess, hypothetically, includes … himself?”



Jimmy Kimmel

Finally, Jimmy Kimmel briefly remarked on Trump’s 500th day in office.



“Today, in case you didn’t know, is a bigly day for our president,” he said. “Today is Donald Trump’s 500th day in office which, I have to say, it feels like only yesterday that it was Trump’s 1,000th day in office.”

Kimmel added: “Tonight will mark Trump’s 500th night of getting Cheese Whiz all over the Lincoln bedspread.”



“The president congratulated himself on Twitter today,” the host noted, reading his tweet aloud. “This is my 500th. Day in Office and we have accomplished a lot - many believe more than any President in his first 500 days. Massive Tax & Regulation Cuts, Military & Vets, Lower Crime & Illegal Immigration, Stronger Borders, Judgeships, Best Economy & Jobs EVER, and much more …”

“Donald JLo Trump has accomplished so much in his interminably short 500 days, so we thought it fitting to celebrate all his many accomplishments tonight,” Kimmel said, before showing a video of Trump’s time on the golf course while in office. “Happy 500, Mr President. I’ll see you on the back nine.”