Donald Trump ducks 'birther' question as Stephen Colbert roasts him on The Late Show

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Colbert asked Trump if he would approve 'two walls' on America's southern border: 'in between, a moat. Filled with fire. And fireproof crocodiles'
'Late Show' host asked Republican front-runner to hit a 'big fat meatball' question out of the park by abandoning his 'birther' quest from 2011
'I don't talk about that any more,' Trump said, four years after demanding – and getting – President Obama's long-form birth certificate
Trump playfully autographed a copy of 'The Art of the Deal' for Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who followed him on the show and helped negotiate the White House's nuclear bargain with Iran
Third guest was Atlanta teen rapper Raury, who wore a Mexican soccer jersey in protest – bearing the name 'TRUMP' crossed out by a red 'X'

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 00:24 EST, 23 September 2015 | Updated: 00:43 EST, 23 September 2015

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Donald Trump dodged the question Tuesday night that put him in the center of America's political stage four years ago during an appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

'Barack Obama: Born in the United States?' Colbert asked him. The host called the question a 'big fat meatball' that Trump could put behind him once and for all, but The Donald wouldn't take the bait.

'I don't talk about that any more,' the Republican front-runner replied, deflecting the conversation toward election-year issues. 'I talk about jobs. I talk about our veterans being horribly treated. I just don't discuss it any more.'

Colbert shot back that the 'meatball was now being dragged down subway steps by a rat' – a reference to a video that went viral earlier in the day, showing a New York CIty subway rat schlepping a whole slice of pizza toward its underground lair.

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'BIG FAT MEATBALL': Stephen Colbert imagined a slow-pitch question that Trump could hit 'out of the park' – was Barack Obama born in the U.S.? – but The Donald refused to take the bait

'I DON'T WANT TO BE A WISE GUY': Trump signed a copy of his 'The Art of the Deal' for Iran nuke deal co-architect Ernie Moniz, the US energy secretary, but resisted the urge to write 'Better luck next time!'

Trump made headlines in 2011 by publicly demanding to see the president's 'long form' birth certificate to prove that he was a 'natural-born citizen' and eligible to hold the presidency under rules laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

The White House responded by publishing it, giving Trump what Obama's other critics had been unable to wrestle from him.

Colbert was in his element, jabbing Trump as a real-life version of the hyper-right-wing ubermench he portrayed in more than 1,400 episodes of 'The Colbert Report' on the Comedy Central channel.

'For years I played an over-the-top, like, conservative, you know, character,' he told Trump. 'Not as long as you did.'

Colbert took a playful shot at Trump's now-omnipresent 'Make America Great Again' baseball caps, joking that 'the hat should be your running mate.'

'The Republican Party has been a big pusher of the idea that money is speech,' Colbert said. 'And you're a $10 billion mouth. You know? You're their worst nightmare.'

'I think that the establishment in the Republican Party probably isn't that thrilled,' Trump said of his meteoric rise in the polls.

CHEERS: Trump drew laughter and applause from the 'Late Show' audience in a risky TV appearance across the desk from the man who played a conservative caricature on 'The Colbert Show' for years

The take-no-prisoners real estate billionaire has been making the late-night rounds, appearing two Fridays ago on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and delivering the program a giant ratings boom.

On Tuesday, Trump shared the stage with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and an Atlanta teen rap sensation named Raury.

STATEMENT: Rap sensation Raury protested Trump with a Mexican soccer jersey including the billionaire's name crossed out with a giant red 'X'

Moniz was one of the architects of the White House's nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran – a bargain that Trump has hammered publicly as 'one of the worst deals I've ever seen.'

As if on cue, Colbert produced a copy of Trump's landmark business book 'The Art of the Deal' and asked the billionaire to autograph it for Moniz.

'Maybe something like, "Dear Ernie, better luck next time?"'

Trump signed the book with tongue in cheek, saying: 'I was just going to say the same thing! ... but I don't want to be a wise guy.'

Some in the crowd gave Trump a standing ovation as he took the stage, according to reporters who were present for the Late Show's afternoon taping.

'You are setting the world on fire right now. I want to thank you for running for president,' Colbert told him as his crowd erupted.

'Because I'm not going to say this stuff writes it self, but you certainly do deliver it on time every day.'

Raury, the rapper, made a political statement of his own during the broadcast, changing into a Mexican soccer jersey before coming on stage.

The shirt's nameplate read 'Trump' – and he wore it with a giant red 'X' covering the Republican's name.

'Trump embodies separation, solving problems with anger, fear, and personal differences,' he told Vice News backstage. 'I'm all about the opposite, about being inclusive and open.'

Trump has made his political mark by agitating against illegal immigration and promising to build 'a big, beautiful wall' along America's southern border if he wins the White House.

'We have to have a wall. We have to have a border,' he told Colbert. 'And in that wall we're going to have a beautiful, big fat door ... where people can come into the country, but they have to come in legally.'

MAKING THE ROUNDS: Trump's appearance on CBS followed a ratings-bonanza appearance on NBC's 'Tonight Show' two Fridays ago

Trump has said his immigration plan as president would welcome immigrants who can add value to the U.S. economy and who won't bring crime in their wake.

'How about two walls, okay?' Colbert shot back? 'Two walls – one here, one there. In between, a moat. Filled with fire. And fireproof crocodiles. Is that enough?'

The Trump segment closed with a lightning round game where Trump was read a series of caricatured statements and asked whether he or Colbert had famously uttered them.

'I think apologizing's a great thing, but you have to be wrong,' read one that Trump correctly took credit for. 'I will absolutely apologize, sometime in the hopefully distant future, if I'm ever wrong.'

He also copped to saying that 'it's freezing and snowing in New York. We need global warming!'

And he admitted once panning the host of 'Meet the Press,' saying he had been urged to 'replace the moron who is on now.'

Colbert failed to stump The Donald, who correctly guessed that it was the host who had apologized I 'for being perfect' and claimed 'Medicare is like a nice set of cufflinks – nobody wears cufflinks any more.'

He also pointed a finger at Colbert for once saying about the prospect of electing a female president: We got Obama in there now and the Chinese testing him, bing bing bing, you get a woman in there, bing bom boom, the whole world goes after her.'