NBC’s Seth Meyers is not happy that President Trump is taking credit for ending the war between Israel and Iran, which he falsely claimed on Tuesday's edition of Late Night that Trump started and is now trying to claim he deserves praise for simply cleaning up his own mess.
Introducing a clip of first term White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Fox News, Meyers claimed, “So, Trump claimed there was a ceasefire in the war he started. Now, most normal human beings might think to themselves, ‘You don't get credit for cleaning up your own mess unless you're under the age of five,’ but for Trump supporters this supposed ceasefire was the single greatest achievement of any president ever.”
It is simply false to say that Trump started the war. A progressive like Meyers could try to claim that Israel started the war, while a more sophisticated thinker may say this is just a new phase of the same war that began with Hamas’s October 7 attack, which set a series of events in motion that saw the Gaza War expand to Lebanon and Hezbollah, Yemen and the Houthis, Syria, and Iran itself.
As it was, McEnany was shown claiming, “Rather than 34 felony counts, President Trump may end up with 34 Nobel Peace Prizes. That was for the leftists so you can clip this and make it go viral and go nuts.”
Meyers initially reacted by quipping, “Well, joke's on you, we're on at 1:00 in the morning, which is the opposite of viral. That clip is gonna go bacterial.”
Getting back on track, Meyers continued, “The funniest part of that clip is that in order to say the thing about the 34 Nobels, she had to remind everyone of Trump's 34 felony counts. That's not a good idea. Also, a Nobel doesn't erase a felony count. When Obama won his in 2009, he didn't say, "Oh, the best part is now I can knock over a liquor store." So, Trump scrapped the deal we had in the first place, then illegally bombed Iran. And now, he wants credit for stopping the thing he started.”
The strikes were not illegal because the president has commander-in-chief powers to defend the country and its interests. Even the War Powers Act allows the president to commit the armed forces for 60 days before going to Congress for longer missions.
And again, Trump did not start the war, but even if Meyers wants to continue to claim he did, what would be so bad about having an objective, achieving that objective, and then declaring victory before falling into some form of mission creep?
Here is a transcript for the June 24-taped show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
6/25/2025
12:48 PM ET
SETH MEYERS: So, Trump claimed there was a ceasefire in the war he started. Now, most normal human beings might think to themselves, "You don't get credit for cleaning up your own mess unless you're under the age of five," but for Trump supporters this supposed ceasefire was the single greatest achievement of any president ever.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY: Rather than 34 felony counts, President Trump may end up with 34 Nobel Peace Prizes. That was for the leftists so you can clip this and make it go viral and go nuts.
MEYERS: Well, joke's on you, we're on at 1:00 in the morning, which is the opposite of viral. That clip is gonna go bacterial. The funniest part of that clip is that in order to say the thing about the 34 Nobels, she had to remind everyone of Trump's 34 felony counts. That's not a good idea. Also, a Nobel doesn't erase a felony count. When Obama won his in 2009, he didn't say, "Oh, the best part is now I can knock over a liquor store." So, Trump scrapped the deal we had in the first place, then illegally bombed Iran. And now, he wants credit for stopping the thing he started. Well, I guess we have no choice but to start clearing room in the Oval Office for those 34 Nobel Peace Prizes.