It may be a new year — but not much has changed for the Trump-obsessed late-night television hosts.

Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and others have rung in the New Year of 2018 by making it clear that a good portion of their programs’ material will still be informed by “everything President Donald Trump.”

After the president tweeted on Tuesday about North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un, late-night hosts had a feeding frenzy.

[lz_ndn video=33393010]

“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” tweeted the president.

[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948355557022420992]

The tweet — naturally — worked its way into Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night monologue, in which he said, “Happy New Year, everybody. We have two maniacs with nuclear warheads bragging about who has a bigger button.”

Kimmel wasn’t done there.

He focused on another recent tweet of Trump’s regarding aviation safety.

“Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news — it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!” tweeted the president.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948195478428102657]

Kimmel read the tweet to his audience and said, “Great job. Not since Harrison Ford was president have we felt so protected on a plane.”

The always reliable Stephen Colbert also jumped on Trump’s aviation tweet by saying, “Trump took credit for no one dying in a plane crash this year! That explains his new campaign slogan, ‘Trump 2020: You got to Tulsa, didn’t ya?'”

Predictably, Colbert went after another Trump tweet about Kim Jong-un and the fact that it ended with the words “we will see!”

[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948194400114487296]

“‘We will see!’?” said Colbert. “That’s a little nonchalant. ‘Maybe it’ll lead to peace, maybe it’ll lead to thermonuclear war, no way of knowing. I as the president would do something about it, but I’m too busy keeping all the planes in the sky.'”

The focus of these supposed comedic hosts on everything Trump does in a given day wouldn’t be such a bad thing if these guys were a bit more clever about it. If they were, you know, funny — then who could complain?

Instead, profound laziness is at work here.

Kimmel, Colbert and others merely read the president’s tweets, say something snarky that a couple dozen or so people on Twitter have already said — and then move on. Seriously? That’s the best they can do after a year of Trump in office?

As for Trump’s tweets: The president understands the power of words and of unfiltered messages. As people like Scott Adams have pointed out, the president is likely aware of the effect of his words not just on his supporters — but also on his detractors.

He likely knows his words will put media figures obsessed with him into a panic. And almost every night (and throughout the day on social media), we witness that panic. The result is that late-night hosts (and others) look lazy and boring as they struggle to keep up with Trump.

PopZette editor Zachary Leeman can be reached at [email protected]

(photo credit, homepage image: Kimmel Meets Hallo Hessen, CC BY 2.0, by Selma_Uesuek / Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore / The Colbert Report’s Final Episode Revealed, CC BY 2.0, by BagoGames)