Stephen Colbert didn’t hold back Tuesday night on The Late Show, unleashing a blistering monologue that skewered Donald Trump’s handling of the escalating federal government shutdown – from airport meltdowns caused by unpaid air traffic controllers to bizarre Oval Office redecorating – culminating in a jaw-dropping jab about the president-elect “building a massive compensation for his weird tiny penis.” With flight delays stranding holiday travelers and consumer confidence plunging to Depression-era lows, Colbert’s 12-minute takedown blended savage satire with pointed policy critique, drawing roars from his studio crowd and fresh backlash from Trump’s Truth Social war room.

The shutdown, now in its third day after Congress’s nail-biter vote to avert total collapse, has already grounded hundreds of flights nationwide, with unpaid Federal Aviation Administration staff calling in sick en masse. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy – the former Real World reality TV alum turned cabinet pick – warned of families missing Thanksgiving feasts, prompting Colbert to quip: “Oh no, I was so excited to discuss that Zohran win with my uncle.” Trump, firing from the hip on social media, branded the striking controllers “substantially docked” and vowed to replace them with “true patriots,” a line Colbert dismantled with gleeful disdain: “Maybe I’m alone but I don’t care if the guy landing my plane is a true patriot. Just don’t crash into the Hollywood sign.”

The CBS host reserved his sharpest barbs for Trump’s eclectic policy prescriptions amid the chaos. The president-elect’s touted 50-year mortgage plan – pitched as a boon for first-time buyers – got eviscerated as “a big dumb policy that fixes nothing,” with Colbert citing a new study showing interest payments ballooning nearly double over a standard 30-year loan: “It’s like saying, ‘Hey, want to pay off your house? Great – now do it until you’re 95!'” Even worse, Trump’s floated 107% tariff on imports sparked Colbert’s mock-apocalyptic rant: “We are officially in a pasta-mergency. Say goodbye to your spaghetti – soon it’ll be freedom noodles or nothing.” The comedian deadpanned that Italian cuisine’s demise would leave Americans subsisting on “freedom fries and bald eagle burgers.”

But the monologue’s viral pinnacle – and the line that’s already meme-ified across TikTok and X – came during Colbert’s riff on Trump’s White House facelift plans. With reports of the East Wing’s impending demolition for undisclosed “upgrades,” the host leaned into the absurdity: “He’s tearing down the East Wing to build a massive compensation for his weird tiny penis.” The punchline landed like a gut-shot, eliciting gasps and guffaws from the Ed Sullivan Theater audience, while Colbert pivoted seamlessly to Trump’s Oval Office quirk: slapping gold-embossed labels on furniture and doors in a font the host dubbed “luxury assisted living” – a cheeky nod to its resemblance to generic retirement home signage.

Colbert didn’t spare Democrats either, lampooning Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s fence-sitting on the shutdown deal – which saw some blue votes cave to GOP demands without salvaging threatened healthcare subsidies. “Bold leadership,” Colbert sneered, mimicking Schumer’s non-endorsement: “He gave no guidance on voting – it’s like your GPS saying, ‘Turn left… or don’t. Up to you.'” Over on NBC, Seth Meyers piled on in A Closer Look, mocking House Speaker Mike Johnson’s futile recall of grounded lawmakers (“I’m sure they would if only the flights weren’t all grounded”) and Trump’s cryptic social post “Less crime more Trump”: “Less crime sounds great but how could there be more Trump? We’re maxed out on Trump.”

The broader gloom? A fresh University of Michigan survey clocking consumer sentiment at 52.3 – the rock-bottom since 1951, pre-Sputnik. Colbert tied it to Trump’s orbit: “Consumers have not felt this bad since we fed our babies cigarettes.” Meyers, meanwhile, marveled at President Biden’s uncharacteristically snappy 30-minute fundraising speech: “He usually speaks that long to the valet.”

Public reaction has been electric – and divided. Clips of Colbert’s “tiny penis” zinger amassed 15 million views on YouTube by Wednesday morning, with fans hailing it as “peak Colbert” and “the shutdown’s silver lining.” One viral X post quipped: “Trump’s building what now? Asking for a friend in Mar-a-Lago.” MAGA diehards fired back on Truth Social, branding the host a “deranged has-been” and calling for CBS boycotts – echoes of Trump’s own mid-monologue tweetstorm labeling Colbert “washed up” and “unfunny.” Late-night’s liberal lean has long irked the right, but this salvo arrives amid Trump’s transition team floating FCC probes into “biased” broadcasters, raising hackles about satire’s free-speech firewall.

Media watchers see it as vintage resistance TV. Variety‘s Alison Herman tweeted: “Colbert’s not just joking – he’s weaponizing absurdity against Trump’s chaos. In the post-Jan. 6 era, this is how democracy fights back.” Broader implications? As the shutdown’s ripple effects – from furloughed feds to snarled supply chains – drag into December, late-night could become ground zero for public venting. With Jimmy Fallon opting for lighter fare on The Tonight Show (a puppy parade to “counter the doom”), Colbert and Meyers are doubling down, positioning their desks as bully pulpits for the beleaguered.

For Colbert, 61 and a decade into The Late Show, the bite feels personal. A onetime Strangers with Candy alum turned Trump-tormentor, he’s weathered boycotts before – but never with a second-term shadow looming. As the host wrapped with a plea for “true patriots” to vote their wallets, not their grudges, one thing’s clear: In shutdown season, Colbert’s comedy is the one engine still firing on all cylinders.