--- title: Stephen Colbert Mocks Jared Kushner Security Downgrade description: After it was confirmed that Jared Kushner's security clearance was downgraded, 'The Late Show' host Stephen Colbert had plenty of jokes. canonical: https://time.com/5179138/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-stephen-colbert/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-28T16:15:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:00.073Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Mocks Jared Kushner's Security Downgrade og:description: "How will he fix the Middle East now?" og:url: https://time.com/5179138/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-stephen-colbert/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d8d2d757db206ce/6989291bcf40a850e7c4b7f3/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-stephen-colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-MALAYSIA-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-RAZAK og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Mocks Jared Kushner's Security Downgrade twitter:description: "How will he fix the Middle East now?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d8d2d757db206ce/6989291bcf40a850e7c4b7f3/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-stephen-colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jared Kushner's Security Clearance Was Just Downgraded. Stephen Colbert Has Jokes.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 28, 2018 4:15 PM UTC  Senior Advisor Jared Kushner waits for a meeting with Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak, US President Donald Trump and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House September 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) Senior Advisor Jared Kushner waits for a meeting with Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak, US President Donald Trump and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House September 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 28, 2018 4:15 PM UTC [Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/5177335/jennifer-lawrence-stephen-colbert-take-shots-in-interview/) is well-known for his quips about President Donald Trump, but on Tuesday night’s episode of _The Late Show with Stephen Colbert_, the late night funnyman honed in on another prominent member of the Trump administration, White House senior adviser and the [president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner](http://time.com/4800796/the-trials-of-jared-kushner/). Kushner recently had [his security clearance downgraded](http://time.com/5178490/jared-kushners-security-clearance-downgraded/) from “top secret/sensitive compartmented information” to just “secret,” something that provided plenty of fodder for Colbert’s jokes, which came in fast and furious during his opening monologue. “He’s still being investigated and if the FBI does not approve him, he’ll be downgraded from top secret to Pop Secret,” Colbert said. According to the _Associated Press_, chief of staff John Kelly ordered the downgrade, which Trump did not object to. For Colbert, this limitation of Kushner’s access was another point of humor. “How will he fix the Middle East now?” he joked. “He was so close to starting.” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5179138/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-stephen-colbert/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5179138/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-stephen-colbert/"},"headline":"Jared Kushner's Security Clearance Was Just Downgraded. 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