After President Trump renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War and promised on Truth Social that the citizens of Chicago would find out why, Seth Meyers reminded his “Late Night” viewers on Monday: “I’m not sure if you guys remember this, but Republicans actually claimed during the campaign that Trump was the anti-war candidate.”
The NBC host went on to play multiple clips of both Republican officials and Trump himself promising that he was the anti-war choice Americans had to make in 2024, while former Vice President Kamala Harris was supposedly the candidate of “death and destruction.” Mystified, Meyers observed, “You listen to the dude they’re describing in those clips and start thinking, ‘Can we meet that Donald Trump, the Donald Trump of peace?’”
“The Donald Trump we know has bombed at least seven different countries in his two terms and bragged about sending billions of dollars in weapons to oppressive regimes,” he continued, pointing out how Trump’s actions and comments have flown in the face of his previous, anti-war stance. The “Late Night With Seth Meyers” host added that he could not help but find it ironic that anyone would ever argue that Trump represents peace — in any form.
“It’s so crazy to call one of the world’s most annoying loudmouths the candidate of peace,” Meyers remarked. “One thing Donald Trump has never given anyone is peace. He never shuts up.”
In the second half of his Monday night “A Closer Look” segment, Meyers called the president out for reacting incredulously to people’s concerns over his comments about bringing the Department of War to Chicago.
“If you don’t want people to ask if you’re going to war with Chicago, then don’t post memes with the words ‘war’ and ‘Chicago,’” Meyers advised. “The problem isn’t that we’re not listening; it’s that we are, and everything you say contradicts the thing before it. So we’re on this Holy Grail-like quest for consistency.” The comedian then said that Trump’s apparent confusion over recent events and people’s concerns about his health have only made it harder for anyone to trust anything he says.
“Trump doesn’t just want to intimidate enemies abroad. He wants to cow his opponents into submission here at home,” Meyers concluded. “At the same time, he doesn’t seem to remember the things he says or does on a daily basis, or where he is or where he just came from. Physically, he may still be the president, but mentally speaking, Trump is no longer with us.”
