Trump Targets Late-Night Hosts Using FCC Regulatory Power
President Donald Trump declared victory over Stephen Colbert's departure from CBS, stating on Truth Social that the late-night host's firing marked the "Beginning of the End" for late-night television and predicting others would follow. Trump has systematically pressured the Federal Communications Commission to strip broadcast licenses, directly called on Disney to fire ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, and demanded NBC terminate Seth Meyers, making clear his intent to eliminate critical voices from television.
CBS cancelled Colbert's top-rated show last year citing financial reasons, but the timing exposed the administration's pattern of regulatory retaliation. The cancellation occurred days after Paramount settled a $16 million lawsuit Trump filed against CBS over editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, and immediately preceded FCC approval of Paramount's $8 billion Skydance merger, leading critics to identify the decision as quid pro quo silencing of political satire in violation of First Amendment protections.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has weaponized his regulatory authority against networks that air criticism of Trump. Carr ordered an unusual early license review of ABC's eight television stations after Trump cited a Kimmel joke as grounds for his dismissal, and in September 2025 pressured broadcasters to remove Kimmel entirely after comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk. When Trump demanded Meyers' firing in November, Carr reposted the demand on X, demonstrating direct coordination between the executive branch and the FCC to suppress dissent.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez documented the administration's systematic assault on free speech, stating that Trump cannot tolerate critics and is deploying "every regulatory lever" to target content he dislikes, from late-night comedy to political programs. Trump has publicly attacked multiple late-night hosts as "deranged" and "untalented" while simultaneously using state power to force them from the air, treating television criticism as a threat requiring government elimination rather than democratic discourse.
Colbert responded by naming the threat directly, stating that "Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV." The coordinated campaign against late-night hosts represents authoritarian suppression of political speech through regulatory capture and merger leverage, dismantling constitutional protections for satire and criticism that have defined American media since the 1950s.