--- --- # Stephen Colbert Takes Trump to Task Over Bathroom Battle by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 24, 2017 4:01 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 24, 2017 4:01 PM UTC Earlier this week, President Donald Trump’s administration announced they would [roll back federal protections](http://time.com/4679063/donald-trump-transgender-bathroom/?iid=sr-link2) for transgender students, which allowed them to use the public [bathroom](http://time.com/4624009/bathroom-bill-lawmakers/?iid=sr-link2) that most closely aligned with their gender identity. Stephen Colbert gave the signs on those [bathrooms](http://time.com/4314896/transgender-bathroom-bill-male-predators-argument/?iid=sr-link9) a chance to speak their mind on _The Late Show_ on Thursday. In the show’s opening scene, _The Late Show_ combined news footage of the announced action with an animated feature that delivered a blunt message for the president. Turns out the signs closely associated with [the roll back](http://time.com/4220345/south-dakota-bathroom-bill-religious-freedom/?iid=sr-link6) are not too pleased about the president’s latest news. Earlier in the episode, during his monologue, Colbert also played a clip of Matt Lauer asking Trump if Caitlyn Jenner could hypothetically use any bathroom in Trump Tower she chose, to which he said, “correct.” Colbert response: “which is good because right now I’m guessing a lot of trans people would like to take a dump in Trump’s lobby.” As for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s explanation of the joint action, Colbert had a few words on that. “Is there a more cowardly phrase than this is a state’s rights issue.” Watch the full clips below. Colbert on Trump Bathroom Trans Rights ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4681760/stephen-colbert-on-trans-bathroom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4681760/stephen-colbert-on-trans-bathroom/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Takes Trump to Task Over Bathroom Battle","datePublished":"2017-02-24T16:01:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:23.980Z","description":"The Late Show reveals what bathroom signs think about Donald Trump's rollback of protections for transgender kids","url":"https://time.com/4681760/stephen-colbert-on-trans-bathroom/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Children","Television","Education","stephen colbert","Donald Trump","Late Night Television","late show with stephen colbert"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4681760/stephen-colbert-on-trans-bathroom/","name":"Stephen Colbert Takes Trump to Task Over Bathroom Battle"}}]}] ```