Stephen Colbert advised U.S. President Donald Trump to “shut up” and stop provoking North Korea after Trump vowed to respond to threats from the isolated dictatorship with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
The comments were seemingly made in response to reports that North Korea has successfully produced a nuclear warhead that’s small enough to fit inside its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
READ MORE: Trump pledges ‘fire and fury,’ in words not unlike those of North Korea
On Tuesday night’s episode of The Late Show, Colbert took the opportunity to ask North Korea why it’s so determined to make “us” happen.
“Look, I know a lot of people tune into this show on a nightly basis to get their news and information,” Colbert said as he opened Tuesday’s Late Show. “They count on me to be a straight shooter with a calm voice. I don’t want to be alarmist, we’re all going to die.”
“My God, Dennis Rodman, did you do nothing?!” Colbert asked of the former basketball player’s recent trip to Pyongyang.
READ MORE: Dennis Rodman returns from a ‘really good’ trip to North Korea
Colbert went on to discuss his frustration with North Korea, which specifically threatened the U.S. despite the fact 14 other UN countries also voted to sanction North Korea.
“Look, North Korea, stop trying to make ‘us’ a thing, alright?” Colbert quipped. “I’m not saying what we have isn’t special, but it’s not exclusive. Okay? The United States, we sanction a lot of other countries, okay? I’ll tell you, we sanctioned Russia just last week, and it felt pretty great. . . . They threaten us in a way you never will. You should see the size of their missiles. Maybe you should start threatening other countries, too. Get out there, you know? Who knows, maybe the country you really want to annihilate has been right in front of you the whole time.”
“Thankfully, faced with the greatest challenge of his presidency, Donald Trump stepped up, and in a moment of pure statesmanship, de-escalated the rhetoric and brought calm to our worried nation,” Colbert said. “I’m just kidding.” Nope. Instead, Trump threatened North Korea further with ‘fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which the world has never seen before.'”
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Colbert showed the clip of Trump warning North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un not to continue threatening the U.S. during a briefing at his golf course in Bedminister, N.J.
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump said. “He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
WATCH BELOW: North Korea will unleash ‘fire and fury’ if they threaten U.S.: Trump
The Late Show camera then showed an empty stage, with Colbert popping up after a couple of seconds to whisper to Trump, “shut up!”
“You’ll get us all killed! And I just started The Handmaid’s Tale,” Colbert said.
Watch the video above to see Colbert’s reaction to Trump’s North Korea threats.
—With files from Rebecca Joseph
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