--- title: James Comey Talks Donald Trump with Stephen Colbert description: Former FBI Director James Comey sat down with Stephen Colbert on the 'Late Show' to talk Donald Trump and his new book 'A Higher Loyalty' canonical: https://time.com/5244490/james-comey-stephen-colbert-donald-trump-interview/ author: Casey Quackenbush article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-18T09:01:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:06:37.039Z og:title: James Comey Says He's the Breakup Trump Can't Get Over on Stephen Colbert og:description: The former FBI director sat down with Stephen Colbert on the 'Late Show' og:url: https://time.com/5244490/james-comey-stephen-colbert-donald-trump-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20f79f6fdd788580/69892df50a4a221fb99d2711/breakup.jpg?branch=production&width=651&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 651 og:image:height: 366 og:image:alt: breakup og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: James Comey Says He's the Breakup Trump Can't Get Over on Stephen Colbert twitter:description: The former FBI director sat down with Stephen Colbert on the 'Late Show' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20f79f6fdd788580/69892df50a4a221fb99d2711/breakup.jpg?branch=production&width=651&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘I'm Like the Breakup He Can’t Get Over.’ James Comey Talks Trump with Stephen Colbert > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1eda7b93-351c-402a-a79a-fcd5587ccc46&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: James Comey on His Encounters With Trump and Leaving the FBI [Watch (HLS stream): James Comey on His Encounters With Trump and Leaving the FBI](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Gk0arjg6.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2018-04-18. James Comey on His Encounters With Trump and Leaving the FBI_ by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Apr 18, 2018 9:01 AM UTC James Comey on His Encounters With Trump and Leaving the FBI by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Apr 18, 2018 9:01 AM UTC Former FBI Director James Comey sat down with Stephen Colbert on _The Late Show_ Tuesday night for a wide-ranging interview to promote his new book _A Higher Loyalty._ The late-night comedian kicked off the interview by jokingly asking Comey to [pledge his loyalty](http://time.com/4809221/james-comey-testimony-donald-trump-loyalty/) to him, in reference to when Comey said President Donald Trump had asked for his loyalty last year. Colbert then served Pinot Noir in paper cups — the same wine Comey said he drank on a flight home after he found out from TV news that the President had fired him. “I thought we could create that happy moment for you right now,” Colbert said. The interview quickly moved on to Trump and his tweets. “He’s tweeted at me probably 50 times,” Comey told Colbert. “I’ve been gone for a year, I’m like the breakup he can’t get over. He wakes up in the morning — I’m out there living my best life — he wakes up in the morning and tweets at me.” > [](https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/986451374975135744) Comey said that his first reaction to the tweets is to shrug, but he then said that such a collective reaction could be dangerous. “It’s not ok,” he said. “There’s a danger we are now numb to it and the norm has been destroyed.” In his new memoir, Comey describes Trump as “untethered to the truth” and, in [a recent interview](http://time.com/5241044/james-comey-interview-abc/) with ABC News, said he was “morally unfit” to be president. When Colbert asked Comey if it’s possible for Trump to turn that image around, Comey said “I wouldn’t be optimistic.” Comey [explained that he thought](http://time.com/5243011/stephen-colbert-james-comey-trump/) Trump’s leadership style was “strikingly similar” to a mob. “It’s all about the boss, what will serve the boss best,” Comey said. “That reminds me very much of Cosa Nostra leadership.” “Well if it felt like you were working for a mob boss, were you surprised that you got whacked?” Colbert joked in reference to his firing. “That’s what they do!”  Copies of 'A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,' by former FBI Director James Comey, April 17, 2018 in New York City. Drew Angerer—Getty Images Comey said he was in fact surprised he was fired as FBI director while he was spearheading the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. “I thought, I’m leading the Russia investigation. Even though our relationship is becoming strained, there’s no way I’d be fired … that’s a crazy thing to do,” Comey said. After a half an hour, Comey ended the interview on a positive note. Describing the President as a “forest fire,” he said that “forest fires allow things to grow that couldn’t grow before.” “We will thrive and rebalance ourselves in the wake of this,” he said. ## Transcript [00:00] Yeah, I never thought that I would ever compare the [00:03] leadership style of a President of the United States to [00:06] that of a mafia boss. And in fact when the idea first [00:10] came into my head when I was dealing with President [00:12] Trump I pushed it away, because it seemed too [00:15] dramatic. But the more I thought about it, the [00:17] comparison was the comparison was on the mark. And [00:22] I don't mean that President Trump, like a Mafia boss, [00:24] is breaking people's legs or blowing up grocery stores. [00:28] What I mean instead is that his leadership is all [00:31] focused on what is best for the boss, loyalty to the [00:35] boss and not connected to any of the ethical values [00:39] outside of the boss. That's very much like a mob family [00:43] and it's a style of leadership he's adopted. I'm not [00:46] angry. I wasn't angry at the encounter with Donald [00:49] Trump, my encounters with Donald Trump. I was very [00:52] sad to leave the FBI and it was terrible to be fired [00:56] on television and have my wife and children find out on [00:59] television. That's probably the worst part, personally. [01:03] As the director of the FBI, the hardest part was trying [01:06] to maintain a distance from the president so I didn't [01:10] compromise the integrity of the FBI. And the Russians [01:14] interfered in our presidential election in 2016. With [01:17] three goals. The first was to hurt America and its [01:21] image as a democracy. The second was to hurt Hillary [01:24] Clinton, and the third was to help Donald Trump. 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