Stephen Colbert Marvels at Trump Kicking Off Hanukkah With Christmas Party and a Story That ‘Somehow Lasted 8 Nights’ | Video

Dec 16, 2025 - 16:15

Hanukkah kicked off on Sunday and, the same night, President Trump hosted a Christmas party at the White House. But, Stephen Colbert gave the man credit on Monday night, joking that Trump at least celebrated with a story that “somehow lasted eight nights.”

“First of all, let me start off by saying, Happy Hanukkah,” Colbert said in greeting to his audience. “Yesterday, our President celebrated the first night of Hanukkah by holding a Christmas party, where he told a story that somehow lasted eight nights. Let me set the scene.”

From there, the CBS host launched into Trump’s story, which was about neither Hanukkah nor Christmas. Instead, it was about White House doctor James Jones, who was apparently bitten by a snake on a trip to Peru. The story went on for more than 10 minutes, and contained some pretty scary snake imagery. At one point, even Trump himself admitted “this is a terrible Christmas story.”

“What makes you say that?” Colbert deadpanned. “I believe it’ll be a beloved holiday tale, just like that classic Samuel L Jackson movie.”

At that, a clip of “Snakes on a Plane” began, but Jackson’s voice was dubbed over so that his iconic line became “I have had it with these Merry Christmas snakes on this happy Hanukkah plane!”

Joking aside, Colbert agreed that it was a pretty bad story — from one point of view. From another, it was actually wildly helpful for one of the “Late Show” guests for the evening.

“This is a terrible story for a room full of children, but great viral marketing for ‘Anaconda,’ starring my guest tonight, Paul Rudd,” Colbert joked. “Now considered a Christmas movie!”

Indeed, Rudd is starring alongside Jack Black in “Anaconda,” which hits theaters this week. But, Colbert did not ask for Rudd’s take on the president’s story.

You can watch Stephen Colbert’s full monologue in the video above.