The late night comedy shows kicked off 2026 on Monday by talking about the big news of Nicolas Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces on Saturday in Venezuela. According to the liberal quintet, the most obvious motivations for President Trump to order such a move were to distract from the Epstein files and because Trump did not like Maduro’s dance moves.
On ABC, Jimmy Kimmel quipped that “President Trump said his New Year’s resolution this year is peace on earth, and that lasted for just under two days. If you are wondering how bad these Epstein files are for Trump; turns out they're ‘invade Venezuela bad.’ This is literally the plot of the movie Wag the Dog. The president gets caught in a sex scandal, so he attacks a smaller country to distract us, and here we are, distracted.”
A bit later, the noted foreign policy non-expert unleashed another dud, “And of course China is very excited about all this. They've been looking at Taiwan like it's a tasty little piece of dim sum, and now anything goes. You can just take what you want. It all seems very—it's almost comic book crazy.”
If Kimmel thinks that China has refrained from attacking Taiwan because it has respect for international law and norms, he needs to stop talking.
As it was, over on Comedy Central, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart warned of potential long-term negative consequences, “Look, no one knows how this is going to work out. But based on the United States's track record, my guess is, we are going to be really happy about it for a couple of weeks, and then 30 years from now, there will be a Venezuelan leftist revolution, and the new government will point to this moment as the reason our embassy there is on fire, and it will absolutely ruin a Democrat's presidency. Generally, that's how this shit works.”
That would be easier to take seriously if Chavismo wasn’t already a leftist ideology. Still, Stewart would later welcome Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly to the program and, after lamenting his censure, lamented Democrats won’t do anything about it:
My question to you is, and this has been something that has been somewhat difficult for Democrats to feel, there is a helplessness, right? What we are hearing is, ‘You guys got to fight back, you got to resist this, you’re in the army come he got to resist the illegal orders. You're in the streets. You've got to take to the streets’ and we’re looking at Washington and going, you've got Chuck Schumer going, ‘We are very, very, it gets me—I get a little gassy.’ Like it’s it—Can you understand why as an outside observer, it’s really frustrating and an abdication of leadership it seems?
Back on CBS, Stephen Colbert began The Late Show’s final year by echoing Kimmel, “Do you know what this means? Those Epstein files must be crazy! I mean, bomb something! Bomb anything! This operation, launched just two days into the New Year, came as a shock, especially since—and this is true — Trump's New Year's resolution was ‘Peace on Earth.’ Well, that didn't last long. And as a result, neither did my resolution to switch to clear liquor.”
Later, Colbert introduced Maduro’s dance moves into the discourse, “For months, the U.S. has been threatening Venezuela. But why suddenly decide to snatch their president in what appears to be a violation of United States and international law? Well, in an international military conflict of this kind, there are many factors to consider, but reportedly the last straw was Maduro's regular public dancing. Okay. That's a new one. Let's take a look at the booty shake that launched a thousand ships.”
After a video, Colbert moved on. NBC’s Seth Meyers at least gave more context on Late Night when he introduced a clip of Fox News’s Aishah Hasnie by sarcastically claimed, “I’m just kidding, I don't actually think the president of the United States started a war over a foreign leader’s dance moves. That is absurd.”
In the video, Hasnie elaborated that the dance moves were seen as a sign that Maduro wasn’t taking talks seriously and was trying to call Trump’s bluff, not that the dance moves themselves led to the operation.
Nevertheless, Meyers still reacted, “So just to be clear, Trump bombed a country because he was anointed by foreign leaders’ dance moves. Normally if I'm annoyed by someone's dancing, I just move to another subway car.”
Earlier, Meyers’s NBC colleague, The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon, echoed Kimmel and Colbert on the Epstein point, “Good luck to everyone who's made New Year's resolutions. Yeah, some people want to lose weight while others want to gain Venezuela and—. Yeah, the big news from this weekend is that President Trump sent U.S. troops into Venezuela to capture the country's president, Nicolas Maduro. Yup, the news took everyone by surprise. When I heard there was an operation to extract a president, I just assumed Trump got stuck in his tanning bed… it turns out Trump's New Year's resolution was to distract everyone from the Epstein files.”
In 1989, the U.S. undertook a similar operation against Panama’s Manuel Noriega, who had also been indicted on federal drug charges and rigged his country’s elections. Are the late night shows even aware of that, or do they and their writers think history began on Saturday?
Here are transcripts for the January 5-taped shows:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
1/5/2026
11:41 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: President Trump said his New Year’s resolution this year is peace on earth and that lasted for just under two days. If you are wondering how bad these Epstein files are for Trump; turns out they're “invade Venezuela bad.” This is literally the plot of the movie Wag the Dog. The president gets caught in a sex scandal, so he attacks a smaller country to distract us, and here we are, distracted. On Saturday, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured by Delta Force at their home in Caracas and brought to New York. Trump watched the operation unfold in real-time from his bunker at Mar-a-Lago. You see, there he is with Hegseth and Marco Rubio. This mission was called Operation Absolute Resolve which was a title definitely generated by ChatGPT.
…
And of course China is very excited about all this. They've been looking at Taiwan like it's a tasty little piece of dim sum, and now anything goes. You can just take what you want. It all seems very—it's almost comic book crazy. But Trump says there's nothing wrong with him. He said the White House doctors have reported he is in perfect health and that "I aced (meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked.)”
He defines the word “aced” like we're the ones with dementia.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
1/6/2026
11:07 PM ET
JON STEWART: Look, no one knows how this is going to work out. But based on the United States's track record, my guess is, we are going to be really happy about it for a couple of weeks, and then 30 years from now, there will be a Venezuelan leftist revolution, and the new government will point to this moment as the reason our embassy there is on fire, and it will absolutely ruin a Democrat's presidency. Generally, that's how this shit works. And remember, the reason MAGA was so high on Donald Trump was that he was the guy who wasn't going to get involved with this kind of shit anymore.
…
11:36 PM
STEWART: Under the Obama administration, they did extrajudicial killings of American citizens through drone strikes, like, we criticized that. That’s—my point is, there is enough gray area in some of these actions—I mean, is any of this legal under the—AUM—you know.
MARK KELLY: There’s no AUMF for Venezuela right now. No authorization.
STEWART: Right, everyone is grabbing these authorizations that were given during the War on Terror and justifying bombings in Libya and justifying—my question to you is, and this has been something that has been somewhat difficult for Democrats to feel, there is a helplessness, right?
KELLY: Understand.
STEWART: What we are hearing is, "You guys got to fight back, you got to resist this, you’re in the army come he got to resist the illegal orders. You're in the streets. You've got to take to the streets" and we’re looking at Washington and going, you've got Chuck Schumer going [Chuck Schumer voice] "We are very, very, it gets me—I get a little gassy." Like it’s it—Can you understand why as an outside observer—
KELLY: I totally understand.
STEWART: —it’s really frustrating and an abdication of leadership it seems?
***
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
1/5/2026
11:38 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Do you know what this means? Those Epstein files must be crazy! I mean, bomb something! Bomb anything! This operation, launched just two days into the New Year, came as a shock, especially since—and this is true — Trump's New Year's resolution was [Trump voice] "Peace on Earth." Well, that didn't last long. And as a result, neither did my resolution to switch to clear liquor. I forgot. Oh, I forgot that's not a prop. Okay.
…
For months, the U.S. has been threatening Venezuela. But why suddenly decide to snatch their president in what appears to be a violation of United States and international law? Well, in an international military conflict of this kind, there are many factors to consider, but reportedly the last straw was Maduro's regular public dancing. Okay. That's a new one. Let's take a look at the booty shake that launched a thousand ships.
***
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
1/6/2026
12:44 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: I’m just kidding, I don't actually think the president of the United States started a war over a foreign leader’s dance moves. That is absurd.
AISHAH HASNIE: According to the New York Times, they're reporting that the dancing videos really, you know, Nicolas Maduro, sort of behaving like he was calling the president's bluff, really acting nonchalantly about these threats. And that was really the last straw for the president, these dancing videos. That's according to that reporting to where they finally went in to go get him.
MEYERS: Oh, my God. We invaded Iraq because of WMDs and these and now we invaded Venezuela for WDMs, [Trump voice] “Wicked dance moves.” So just to be clear, Trump bombed a country because he was anointed by foreign leaders’ dance moves. Normally if I'm annoyed by someone's dancing, I just move to another subway car. I'm sorry, Showtime dancers. I'm just trying to get to work and finish the Worlde in peace. Now, let's see. What is today's Wordle anyway? Ah, [bleep].
***
NBC The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
1/5/2026
11:36 PM ET
JIMMY FALLON: Good luck to everyone who's made New Year's resolutions. Yeah, some people want to lose weight while others want to gain Venezuela and—. Yeah, the big news from this weekend is that President Trump sent U.S. troops into Venezuela to capture the country's president, Nicolas Maduro. Yup, the news took everyone by surprise. When I heard there was an operation to extract a president, I just assumed Trump got stuck in his tanning bed. [Trump voice] “a little help, a little help.” Yeah, it turns out Trump's New Year's resolution was to distract everyone from the Epstein files. It was an odd weekend for 48 hours, CNN had wall-to-wall coverage of Nicolas Maduro and Chevy Chase. Very odd.
