truth social

As the GOP breaks the rules to placate their leader and the Dems play by rules that no longer exist, late-night television is one of the few public platforms left that’s bold enough to challenge President Trump’s policy on a daily basis.

From Jimmy Kimmel to “The Daily Show” to Stephen Colbert (whose contract won’t be renewed by the nervous folks at Paramount), calling out the dangerous actions of the bully in the White House has by default become a public service of late-night TV and its political satirists.

Early Wednesday morning, Trump attempted to spark a new battle against his joke-slinging foes when he took to his own social media site, Truth Social, to address a “sick rumor” that wasn’t a rumor at all.

“Fake News NBC extended the contract of one of the least talented Late Night television hosts out there, Seth Meyers,” Trump wrote. “He has no Ratings, Talent, or Intelligence, and the Personality of an insecure child. So, why would Fake News NBC extend this dope’s contract. I don’t know, but I’ll definitely be finding out!!!”

It will not take Sherlock Holmes, Stephen Miller or even a DOGE flunky to ferret out the truth because the contract was revealed back in May … of 2024. It was hardly a covert operation when NBC extended “Late Night With Seth Meyers” through 2028. “We’re so happy to continue this legacy franchise with Seth at the helm and watch him continue to elevate the success of ‘Late Night,’” announced NBCUniversal Entertainment late-night programming EVP Katie Hockmeyer in a statement.

Mystery solved.

Trump has appeared more triggered than usual over the past month or two, perhaps due to quantifiable rumors surrounding his relationship with the late convicted child sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein, slipping poll numbers or ongoing queries about his health. The internet can’t stop speculating about what appear to be bruises on the backs of his hands, slathered in orange concealer. Is he sick and getting IV transfusions? Or is he punching his computer screen each time California Gov. Gavin Newsom out-trolls him?

Meyers is a frequent critic of the current White House administration, and the president has had it out for the comedian ever since Meyers played news anchor on SNL’s “Weekend Update” and Trump played a successful businessman on “The Apprentice.” It was 2011 when Meyers, then head writer of the sketch show, hosted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke,” Meyers said. Seated in the audience was a seething Donald Trump.

“Late Night With Seth Meyers” recently celebrated its 10th year on air, outlasting “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Though Trump reportedly had no direct hand in the cancellation of Colbert’s show, Paramount made the move to end the show after Trump sued its news magazine “60 Minutes” over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The network paid a $16 million settlement to the president. Paramount at the time also happened to be seeking federal approval for a multibillion-dollar sale to Hollywood studio Skydance, which was approved shortly after the settlement.

Last fall, Trump posted on Truth Social that NBC’s parent company, Comcast, should “pay a BIG price” for shows like Meyers’, which he called “political hits.”

“How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a ‘network’ run by a truly bad group of people — Remember, they also run MSDNC,” Trump wrote. “I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I watch this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast.”

Meyers has yet to comment on the recent attention paid to his show by the White House, but what’s the rush? The host has another four years, according to his contract. Trump also has until 2028, according to that other contract, the Constitution. It’s anyone’s guess which agreement will hold.

President Trump on Tuesday said he intends to expand his crusade against what he calls “woke” ideology from the Smithsonian Institution to museums across the country.

“The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the Smithsonian is “out of control,” and that everything featured in its exhibits discuss, “how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”

To prevent more of the same in other institutions, Trump said he has instructed his attorneys, “to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made.”

Contacted for comment, a White House rep said, “President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable. He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there.”

They did not respond to a request for clarification on how the administration intends to vet the content of exhibits at other museums, or whether or not the president intends to issue an executive order with details on a plan.

Trump’s concern about the Smithsonian first became public in late March when he issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which directed Vice President JD Vance to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Two months later, Trump exerted even greater control when he said he’d fired Kim Sajet, the longtime director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, for being “a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.” It soon became apparent that it wasn’t in Trump’s power to do so and Sajet continued to work.

In early June the Smithsonian rejected Trump’s attempt to fire Sajet after a lengthy Board of Regents meeting. The Regents issued a statement stating that the organization’s secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, “has the support of the Board of Regents in his authority and management of the Smithsonian.” It was implied that Bunch would be the one making personnel decisions, not Trump.

Still, the statement opened the door to the idea that the Smithsonian might make changes that would appease Trump’s criticism.

“To reinforce our nonpartisan stature, the Board of Regents has directed the Secretary to articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content in Smithsonian museums, give directors reasonable time to make any needed changes to ensure unbiased content, and to report back to the Board on progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes,” the statement read.

Sajet resigned a few days later, writing in a note to staff, “From the very beginning, my guiding principle has been to put the museum first. Today, I believe that stepping aside is the best way to serve the institution I hold so deeply in my heart.”

Other museums are ringing alarm bells about what it could mean for art and history at large.

The Japanese American National Museum in L.A.’s Little Tokyo recently issued a statement condemning what it called the, “Reshaping of Smithsonian Museums” to fit “the administration’s historical interpretation.”

“These latest attempts to sanitize and reshape history to fit a narrow ideological narrative amount to nothing less than the erasure of history,” said JANM’s President and Chief Executive Ann Burroughs. “We cannot reverse America’s journey toward a more just and equitable future. Museums must be places of truth, not propaganda — spaces where the next generation can confront the complexity of our nation’s injustices, mistakes, and darkest chapters; where empathy, social responsibility, and the courage to defend democracy are nurtured.”

The American Alliance of Museums also recently issued a statement warning of “growing threats of censorship against U.S. museums.”

“In recent months, museums have faced increasing external pressures to modify, remove, or limit exhibitions and programs,” the statement read. “People trust museums because they rely on independent scholarship and research, uphold high professional standards, and embrace open inquiry. When any directive dictates what should or should not be displayed, it risks narrowing the public’s window into evidence, ideas, and a full range of perspectives.

“This is not just a concern for select institutions,” the statement continued. “These pressures can create a chilling effect across the entire museum sector.”

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is firing Kim Sajet, the longtime director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, for being “a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.”

The announcement, made on Truth Social, comes as Trump pushes to remake some of the highest profile national arts institutions so they align with his political agenda. In February, he dismissed much of the Kennedy Center board in order to have himself appointed chairman. In March, he targeted the Smithsonian Institution by issuing an executive order demanding an end to federal funding for exhibitions and programs based on racial themes that “divide Americans.”

The National Portrait Gallery did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. It is unclear, as with many of Trump’s social media decrees, if the organization was expecting the latest action.

Sajet was appointed director in 2013 by Wayne Clough, then the secretary of the Smithsonian. Sajet, the first woman to serve in the role, had come from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where she was president and chief executive. Sajet, a Dutch national, was born in Nigeria and raised in Australia.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said he was terminating Sajet “upon the request and recommendation of many people.” He said her support of diversity and inclusion was “totally inappropriate for her position.” He promised to name her replacement soon.

The National Portrait Gallery was founded by Congress in 1962 and houses more than 26,000 objects, including portraits of all the nation’s presidents. It shares a building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum and attracts about 1 million visitors a year.

The gallery contains a photo portrait of Trump taken in 2017 by Matt McClain, with a caption that reads, in part, “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials. After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

The beef is building between Bruce Springsteen and President Trump.

The Boss did not back down on his fiery rhetoric against Trump on the third night of his “Land of Hopes and Dreams” tour in Manchester, England, on Saturday — a day after Trump lashed out against the legendary singer on Truth Social, calling him an “obnoxious jerk,” a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker,” and writing that he should “keep his mouth shut.”

Springsteen didn’t oblige. In a resolute three-minute speech from the Co-op Live venue, Springsteen thanked his cheering audience for indulging him in a speech about the state of America: “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore.”

He then repeated many of the lines that he used during a previous Manchester show — the same words that upset Trump to begin with, including the administration defunding American universities, the rolling back of civil rights legislation and siding with dictators, “against those who are struggling for their freedoms.”

Trump’s Truth Social post contained what appeared to be a threat, writing of Springsteen, “We’ll see how it goes for him,” when he gets back to the country. This did not dissuade the “Born in the USA” singer.

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“In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now,” Springsteen said. “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”

In a steady voice, he listed the many concerns of those who oppose Trump, his enablers and his policies.

“They are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers as prisoners. That’s happening now. The majority of our elected representatives have utterly failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government,” Springsteen said as the crowd applauded and yelled its support. “They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”

He finished on a positive note.

“The America I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its many faults, it’s a great country with a great people, and we will survive this moment. Well, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ ”

Springsteen has long been a vocal critic of Trump, and campaigned for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Trump is known for his angry diatribes against celebrities who criticize him, including Taylor Swift and Robert DeNiro.