President Donald Trump issued a new critique against late-night television host Seth Meyers over the weekend, suggesting the NBC comedian might be violating legal boundaries by mocking him on air.
Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday, November 1, 2025, to denounce Meyers’ comedic segments related to his administration. “Seth Meyers of NBC may be the least talented person to ‘perform’ live in the history of television,” the 79-year-old president wrote, adding that such mockery was “probably illegal.”
Trump’s verbatim quote included, “NO TALENT, NO RATINGS, 100% ANTI TRUMP, WHICH IS PROBABLY ILLEGAL!!!”
In a recent episode of “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Meyers mocked a speech by Trump, in which the former president discussed preferring steam-powered catapults over newer electric ones for U.S. aircraft carriers. Meyers quipped: “Guy spends more time thinking about catapults than Wile E. Coyote.”
The remarks came amid growing criticism of Trump’s Halloween festivities at Mar-a-Lago, where he hosted a lavish Great Gatsby-themed party on Friday, October 31, 2025. The event featured guests in 1920s flapper costumes and Roaring Twenties attire, with the official theme described as “a little party never killed nobody,” according to multiple reports.
The timing drew sharp rebukes from Democratic leaders, as the elaborate celebration occurred just hours before funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program lapsed on November 1, affecting approximately 42 million Americans who rely on the vital food assistance program during the ongoing government shutdown.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the optics of the lavish affair, posting on social media that Trump hosted a Great Gatsby party while SNAP benefits were about to disappear for millions of Americans. “He does not give a damn about you,” Newsom stated.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy echoed the sentiment, describing how Trump rubs his inhumanity in Americans’ faces. California Rep. Ro Khanna added that Trump hosts parties for billionaires while SNAP benefits expire for millions of Americans, calling for lawmakers to tax the rich and feed hungry Americans.
The Mar-a-Lago Halloween bash featured prominent attendees, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who sat next to Trump at a center table, along with Ivanka Trump, Tiffany Trump, and their husbands, Jared Kushner and Michael Boulos. Dancers in period costumes entertained guests throughout the evening, though Trump did not deliver formal remarks when reporters were present.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly defended the president against critics. “These Democrats are full of it,” she said in a statement Saturday. She added that President Trump has repeatedly urged them to act responsibly and bring the government back into operation, a step they have the power to take at any moment.
Legal developments surrounding SNAP funding unfolded rapidly on Friday. A federal judge in Providence, Rhode Island, issued a temporary order requiring the Trump administration to maintain SNAP funding after several states filed a lawsuit. Another judge in Boston, Massachusetts, ruled that the administration’s attempt to suspend SNAP funding was unlawful, though declined to order that the program be funded immediately.
Trump commented on the court decisions, noting that his administration’s attorneys were unsure whether they had the legal authority to fund SNAP during the government shutdown. He indicated he wanted courts to clarify the situation as soon as possible, insisting he did not want Americans to go hungry because Democrats refused to reopen the government.
As of November 3, 2025, the Trump administration agreed to provide 50% of SNAP benefits using contingency funds in response to federal court orders.
Between September and November 2025, Donald Trump increased his public criticism of late-night talk-show hosts whom he believes mock him or his administration. A prominent flashpoint came in mid-September when Jimmy Kimmel’s show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was temporarily suspended by ABC following his monologue on September 15, in which he criticized some responses by conservatives to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
On September 18, Trump lauded the suspension, calling Kimmel “not a talented person; he had very bad ratings” and asserting the show’s cancellation was justified. He went further to suggest that networks whose coverage of him was overwhelmingly negative “should maybe” have their broadcast licenses revoked—claiming “97 percent” of stories about him were bad.
During the same period, Trump’s criticisms extended to Stephen Colbert and other late-night figures. He celebrated the earlier announcement of the 2026 cancellation of Colbert’s show, stating he “absolutely love[s] that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.” Meanwhile, leading hosts such as Colbert and Jon Stewart publicly accused the Trump administration of authoritarian tactics after the Kimmel episode, with Colbert calling the situation “blatant censorship” and Stewart lampooning the environment as dictatorship-style.
Trump continues to frame the mockery by these hosts not as harmless satire but as part of what he sees as systemic bias against him in mainstream media.
