--- title: David Letterman: I Wouldn’t Have Tussled Donald Trump’s Hair description: "I would have gone to work on Trump," David Letterman said in a recent interview with New York Magazine. canonical: https://time.com/4691684/david-letterman-trump-hair/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-06T14:34:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:40:32.262Z article:section: Politics og:title: David Letterman Says He Wouldn’t Have Toulsed Trump’s Hair og:description: Like Jimmy Fallon og:url: https://time.com/4691684/david-letterman-trump-hair/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca949e860246bda7/6988bd0dfb4eac67ee890ffa/gettyimages-533400682.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: David Letterman Says He Wouldn’t Have Toulsed Trump’s Hair twitter:description: Like Jimmy Fallon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca949e860246bda7/6988bd0dfb4eac67ee890ffa/gettyimages-533400682.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # David Letterman Says He Wouldn’t Have Tousled Donald Trump’s Hair Like Jimmy Fallon > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times 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. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 6, 2017 2:34 PM UTC  Individual Award Recipient, comedian/television host David Letterman is seen entering the press room during the 75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street on May 21, 2016 in New York City. Brent N. Clarke—FilmMagic Individual Award Recipient, comedian/television host David Letterman is seen entering the press room during the 75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street on May 21, 2016 in New York City. Brent N. Clarke—FilmMagic Brent N. Clarke—FilmMagic by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 6, 2017 2:34 PM UTC Former late night talk show host [David Letterman](http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/david-letterman-in-conversation.html) doesn’t want to criticize Jimmy Fallon over the way he handled an interview with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, but he does say he would have done things a bit differently. “Jimmy got a fantastic viral clip out of that,” Letterman said in an interview with [New York _Magazine_‘s _Vulture_](http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/david-letterman-in-conversation.html). ” I don’t want to criticize Jimmy Fallon, but I can only tell you what I would have done in that situation: I would have gone to work on Trump.” Fallon faced harsh criticism for tousling Trump’s hair during an interview he conducted with the candidate on the _Tonight Show_ during the 2016 campaign. Fallon defended himself by saying he’s [never mean to his guests](http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/09/19/jimmy-fallon-on-trump-episode-criticism-i-m-never-mean-to-my-guests.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl). Letterman, on the other hand, has consistently been pretty harsh on Trump, who he calls “Trumpy,” according to [_Vulture_](http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/david-letterman-in-conversation.html). In an interview with the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/arts/television/letterman-has-no-love-for-damaged-trump.html?%5Fr=2) in October, Letterman referred to Trump as a “damaged human being” and a “person to be shunned.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4691684/david-letterman-trump-hair/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4691684/david-letterman-trump-hair/"},"headline":"David Letterman Says He Wouldn’t Have Tousled Donald Trump’s Hair Like Jimmy Fallon","datePublished":"2017-03-06T14:34:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:40:32.262Z","description":"\"I would have gone to work on Trump.\"","url":"https://time.com/4691684/david-letterman-trump-hair/","keywords":["David Letterman","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca949e860246bda7/6988bd0dfb4eac67ee890ffa/gettyimages-533400682.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca949e860246bda7/6988bd0dfb4eac67ee890ffa/gettyimages-533400682.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony","caption":"75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony","creditText":"Brent N. 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