Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Conan O'Brien suggest Britain's royal family is stone-cold trolling Trump
President Trump landed in London Monday for a state visit, Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show, and it hasn't gone all that smoothly. He imagined Trump's inappropriate interactions with Prince Charles during an afternoon tea, dragging in Moby and Natalie Portman; annotated Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump "haunting" Buckingham Palace; and raised his eyebrows at Britain's odd excuse for why Trump isn't invited to stay in Buckingham Palace like past presidents.
Colbert recapped the one-sided "international catfight" Trump picked with Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, noting that "it's not exactly etiquette to call a member of the royal family 'nasty,'" though his own joke about Queen Elizabeth's gift for Trump, a first-edition copy of Sir Winston Churchill's book on World War II, maybe went a little too far.
"That's right, the queen's gift for Donald Trump was a book," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. "Either she doesn't know Trump, or she's trolling him. Why would you give Donald Trump a book? Everyone knows the man doesn't read." In fact, "I wouldn't be shocked if the queen was actually trolling Donald Trump," he said, given his "nasty" Markle comment, insults for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and meddling in the Brexit debate and leadership contest — though he found Trump's love of potential prime minister Boris Johnson unsurprising. "I've never seen two people who both look like failed clones of each other."
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All this probably "explains why the British haven't exactly rolled out the red carpet," Noah said, highlighting the lack of invitation to state at the palace. "Really? Really?! All 52 bedrooms in Buckingham Palace are being renovated at the same time? All of them? Come on, man!"
Conan O'Brien added some dialogue from Queen Elizabeth showing Trump royal grounds, and yes, there is a book joke.
The Late Show also imagined Trump's special menu for the state banquet. Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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