Stephen Colbert Mocks Trump’s Iran Cease-Fire Plan with ‘Déjà Hormuz’ Joke

Stephen Colbert delivered a biting critique of President Donald Trump’s reported cease-fire demands for Iran during his Wednesday night monologue on The Late Show, joking that the plan had given him a case of ‘Déjà Hormuz.’

Colbert opened his CBS segment by noting reports suggesting the U.S.-Iran conflict may be nearing resolution. According to these reports, Trump is prepared to sign a one-page memorandum outlining a framework for future negotiations spanning weeks, months, and even years.

“So it’s a single sheet of paper, which is a letter of intent to eventually outline the idea of what you might agree to some other time,” Colbert quipped. He then dissected the memorandum’s key provisions, which include:

• A moratorium on Iran’s nuclear enrichment;
• The lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran;
• Mutual lifting of restrictions on transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

“So… exactly what was happening before,” Colbert said. “I think I might have a case of Déjà Hormuz.”

Later in the segment, Colbert addressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that the Iran conflict was not legally classified as a war because the military mission, Operation Epic Fury, had concluded.

“There you go. Epic Fury’s over,” Colbert said. “Next came something called Project Freedom, which they launched to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Well, last night, Trump halted that military operation in the Strait of Hormuz after just one day. No surprise there. The president’s just living up to the Trump family motto: ‘When the going gets tough, bye, bitch.’”

Colbert then pivoted to another topic, mocking Senate Republicans for attempting to have American taxpayers fund Trump’s planned White House ballroom.

“Let me put that in layman’s terms,” he said. “That is bulls—t.” Colbert proceeded to play a montage of Trump’s past promises that the ballroom would be privately funded over the past year.

“How ironic,” he joked. “To lie that blatantly takes a lot of balls, and he still hasn’t built the room to store them.”