NEWSStephen Colbert Mocks Donald Trump for Undercutting His Administration's Messaging on Iran
Stephen Colbert had a blast making fun of the Trump administration's refusal to use the word 'war' to describe the Iran conflict.
March 5 2026, Published 5:50 p.m. ET
Stephen Colbert gleefully lampooned the Trump administration’s wartime doublespeak, poking fun at its comical avoidance of the word "war," and its desperate attempts to relabel the conflict in Iran as anything but.
During the Wednesday, March 4 episode of The Late Show, Colbert eviscerated the administration’s linguistic gymnastics in dubbing "Operation Epic Fury" as "targeted major combat operations" — an epic dodge designed to tiptoe around Congress to avoid seeking their approval.
“I say war because it sure looks like a war and Trump keeps calling it a war, but Congress never declared it a war, and MAGA was promised no new wars,” Colbert quipped.
Stephen Colbert ripped apart Donald Trump on his show.
Further highlighting the administration's efforts, the late-night host then pointed to a White House memo sent to congressional Republicans instructing them not to call the conflict with Iran a “war” and to specifically correct reporters who use that word by calling it, instead, “targeted major combat operations.”
“So it’s worse than a war,” Colbert joked. “It’s a war that got a thesaurus for Christmas. Okay.”
The comedian had fun with the forbidden word, saying, “So, it’s not a war. It’s not a war. Don’t call it a war. Got it. I’m sorry, Mr. President. You were saying?”
Stephen Colbert mocked Donald Trump for calling the strikes against Iran a 'war.'
Continuing his comically scathing critique, Colbert — counting down to his show’s end in May 2026 — played a clip of Trump calling the strikes against Iran a “war” three times in one minute.
“Oh no. Oh da-n it! You know you’re not supposed to say it, but that just puts the word in your brain,” Colbert snarked.
“It’s like when your boss has a huge pimple on his nose, and you’re like, ‘Don’t talk about the pimple,’ but as soon as he walks in, you go, ‘Hi, Mr. Pimple!” he laughed.
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Stephen Colbert often speaks out about Donald Trump.
Colbert then targeted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who sidestepped the issue by blaming Iran for its counterattacks during Trump’s “not a war.”
“We’re not at war right now, folks. I totally buy it, babe. She declared s-- on me. I simply reciprocated with a targeted heat-seeking moisture missile,” Colbert joshed.
“One thing’s for sure,” Colbert deduced. “This ‘not-a-war’ is not-a-stopping anytime soon.”
Stephen Colbert's show will wrap in May.
Colbert’s show was canceled by CBS, allegedly for “financial reasons,” but critics and fans have questioned whether the move was political given Colbert's frequent criticism of the Trump administration.
Colbert accused CBS and the Trump administration of censorship after the network blocked an interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico, who just won his state's Democratic Senate primary.
When news of the cancelation broke, Trump celebrated on Truth Social, stating, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired."
Colbert fired back on air, telling the president to "Go F--- Yourself" and questioning if the cancelation was a "path of least resistance" for a multi-billion dollar merger.
