Fact Check: Did David Letterman once call Donald Trump a 'goon' and suggest putting 'him in a home'?

WASHINGTON, DC: David Letterman hosted NBC's 'Late Night with David Letterman' from September 1982 to June 1993 before he moved to CBS and hosted 'Late Show with David Letterman' from August 1993.

Interestingly, President Donald Trump had made more than 30 appearances between Letterman's two late-night gigs, starting in 1987, according to The New York Times.

Recently, a rumor circulated online claiming that Letterman once called Trump a goon and said to "put him in a home". But is there any truth to this? Let's find out below.

Claim: David Letterman called Donald Trump a goon and said to 'put him in a home'

In late March and early April, rumors circulated online claiming that David Letterman made comments about Donald Trump that included the statement, "If the guy was running Dairy Queen, he'd be gone. So why do we have to be victimized by his fecklessness, his ignorance? Let's just stop whining about what a goon he is and figure out a way to take him aside and put him in a home."

The claim circulated across social media platforms such as Facebook, BlueSky, Instagram, and X.

The viral posts featured an image with the alleged quote and pictures of both Letterman and Trump. The alleged quote is attributed to Letterman in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) published on July 10, 2017.

Quote shared in viral posts is truncated version of David Letterman's complete statement

The quote shared in the viral claims is a truncated version of David Letterman's alleged full response to a question asked by the news agency, according to Snopes.

Letterman was asked during the interview, "Speaking of the current administration, late-night seems to have become mostly Trump jokes and tirades. Do you miss not being part of that?"

Letterman's complete answer to the question was, "Here's what I keep saying: We know there's something wrong, but what I'm tired of is people, daily, nightly, on all the cable news shows telling us there's something wrong. I just think we ought to direct our resources and our energies to doing something about it. And other people have made this point: If the guy was running Dairy Queen, he'd be gone."

He continued, "This guy couldn't work at The Gap. So why do we have to be victimized by his fecklessness, his ignorance? But it's just the behavior is insulting to Americans, whether you voted for him or not — and I feel bad for people who did vote for him because he promised them things that they really needed and one wonders if he's really going to come through."

"I know there's trouble in this country, and we need a guy who can fix that trouble. I wish it was Trump, but it's not, so let's just stop whining about what a goon he is and figure out a way to take him aside and put him in a home," Letterman added.

Meanwhile, Letterman's comments were covered by renowned media outlets such as CNN, HuffPost, The Hill, Fox News, PageSix, and others, per Snopes.

The fact-checking outlet opted not to give a rating to this claim as they await for a confirmation from Letterman’s representative that AP's reporting accurately reflected his statements.

David Letterman once called Donald Trump a 'joke of a wealthy guy'

During a 2017 interview with Vulture, David Letterman discussed his experiences with Donald Trump. He felt that the POTUS was an essential piece of New York culture in the 80s and 90s, but not in a flattering manner.

He said, "He was a joke of a wealthy guy. We didn’t take him seriously. He’d sit down, and I would just start making fun of him. He was big and doughy, and you could beat him up."

Moreover, Letterman conceded that Trump was a good sport, and the audience enjoyed the jokes being made at his expense, according to the outlet.

Letterman recalled, "He never had any response. He seemed to have a good time, and the audience loved it, and that was Donald Trump."

Letterman revealed during the interview that he heard from a PR manager that Trump would never consider running for president.

He was told, "He was just monkeying around for the publicity." However, this turned out to be false.