CNN’s Jake Tapper Torpedoes Trump Demand for War Praise in Late Show Hit

CNN anchor Jake Tapper told late-night host Stephen Colbert the many reasons he would not obey President Donald Trump’s demand to be congratulated for a “JOB WELL DONE, MR. PRESIDENT.”

Amid a frenetic social media weekend, Trump posted a bitter demand that outlets like CNN give him credit for the war in Iran, writing “Why don’t they just say, at the right time, JOB WELL DONE, MR. PRESIDENT, and start to gain back their credibility???”

On Monday night’s edition of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Tapper and Colbert took turns lampooning Trump, as Tapper dissected the premise and Colbert played straight man with Devil’s Advocate interjections:

STEPHEN COLBERT: OK, on Friday, your network, and congrats on this one–.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: Thank you.

STEPHEN COLBERT: –got a shout out from Trump. He posted that “CNN and the New York Times are, quote, desperately looking for a reason to criticize President Donald J. Trump on the Iran situation, but just can’t find it. Why don’t they just say, job well done, Mr. President?”.

So Jake, that’s a simple question, why don’t you just say job well-done? How hard is that? What would that hurt if you just said, job well done, and then later ask what the job was?

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: Okay, so first–. First of all, let me say, I say it to you, job well done.

(AUDIENCE ROARS).

STEPHEN COLBERT: Thank you very much. Now I’m supposed to tell him? I’m supposed to pass–

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: No, no, no. It stops at you.

STEPHEN COLBERT: Oh, it just stops here? Oh, that’s right, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right, right yeah yeah.

CROWD: STEPHEN! STEPHEN! STEPHEN! STEPHEN!

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: But in terms of job well done, let’s just deconstruct it. It’s not done.

STEPHEN COLBERT: It’s pretty much done.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: It’s not done. There’s still–.

STEPHEN COLBERT: It’s pretty– We’ve won, and it’s pretty much over. For all intents and purposes.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: He literally, President Trump is literally threatening to blow up the entire country yesterday. Iran, not ours.

STEPHEN COLBERT: Yeah, don’t… Yes. Now you’re nitpicking. Now you… That’s the…

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: That’s my job.

STEPHEN COLBERT: That’s the CNN just looking for anything to criticize the president for.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: I don’t have to look very far when it comes to things, to question the government about this war. And we still don’t even know if the peace talks in Pakistan are gonna happen.

STEPHEN COLBERT: Oh, that’s right, because the President sent over– J.D. Vance and Witkoff, is that who it is? Who is it?

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: I think so. They kept on changing. First, Trump–.

STEPHEN COLBERT: And Kushner.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: Vance wasn’t gonna go, now we’re told Vance is gonna go.

STEPHEN COLBERT: And then Iran said, we’re not sending anybody.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: Yeah, I mean, there is–

STEPHEN COLBERT: Are they sending somebody now?

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: There does seem to be a split. The government in that country is not in great shape. So I think that there is talk from the Parliament, that there are going to be talks, but the Islamic Republican Guard, it’s not clear that they’re going to send anybody or that they are in cahoots with their own government?

STEPHEN COLBERT: So Vance could just be over there negotiating with himself. Which I’ll remind him as a fellow Catholic is a sin.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: Um. I mean I hope there are peace talks–

STEPHEN COLBERT: Me too. Yeah, of course. I hope the whole thing, I hope United States gets something meaningful out of it. If we got the uranium, that would be wonderful.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: The Strait of Hormuz could reopen?

STEPHEN COLBERT: It could reopen, yeah. Yeah.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: I mean, that, we were told, as you explained earlier, was that was a done deal, and then it wasn’t a done deal, than I think yesterday. I lose track.

President Trump announced that the US had fired upon an Iranian vessel. And so, I mean it’s not done. That’s my whole point.

Why did I say, why did I not say, job well done, not done?

STEPHEN COLBERT: Negative, negative, negative!

OK. Even if they start negotiating tomorrow, they have one day to do the whole damn thing, or else the ceasefire ends on Wednesday. Is that the cease fire of the, is it midnight Tuesday?

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: But I think that I think– I’m not sure if it’s midnight Tuesday or midnight Wednesday.

But I Think that it’s possible that President Trump will push it off.

STEPHEN COLBERT: In good faith negotiations.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: Perhaps. We hope so.

Watch above via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!