David Letterman says 'psychotic' President Trump has become a 'soulless b*****d' who is unrecognizable from the man he hosted over 30 times on his shows
- Letterman appeared on the latest episode of the Hollywood Reporter's podcast
- He told host Scott Feinberg that he wants to talk to the 'real Donald Trump'
- Letterman hosted Trump more than 30 times on two shows between 1982-2015
- He says the New York businessman who 'liked to be on TV' has significantly changed over the years into a 'soulless b*****d'
- 'I would just like to talk to the guy, because, as I said before, he knows me, I know him — what the hell went wrong?!' Letterman said in the interview
David Letterman says Donald Trump has become a 'soulless b*****d' and is now unrecognizable from the man he interviewed dozens of times on his late night talk shows.
Letterman hosted NBC's 'Late Night With David Letterman' followed by 'The Late Show With David Letterman' on CBS between 1982 and 2015.
The veteran broadcaster, who now fronts Netflix's 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction', appeared as a guest on yesterday's episode of The Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter' podcast.
Donald Trump during an interview on NBC's 'Late Night With David Letterman on December 22, 1987. Letterman said this week that Trump has changed significantly and has become a 'soulless b*****d'
During the interview, host Scott Feinberg revealed that during Letterman's 33-year talk show career, he had hosted the 45th president more than 30 times.
'More than 30?' Letterman replied. 'Wow! You're welcome, America.'
Taking a more serious tone, the 72-year-old went on to say that he thinks the President has changed significantly from his days as a New York businessman.
'I think he just liked being on TV,' Letterman told Feinberg. 'I had no sense that he was the soulless b*****d that he's turned into.'
'Everybody says, "Oh, wouldn't you like to talk to Donald Trump?" And I would. I would just like to say, "Don, it's Dave. Remember me?" I want to talk to the real Donald Trump.'
'Because I now don't know which is the real Donald Trump, and if the Donald Trump that I was talking to [back then] was the real Donald Trump, how do you get to be the guy he is now?
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David Letterman (right) hosted Donald Trump more than 30 times on two talk shows between 1982-2015, when the President was still only a New York businessman
He continued: 'Politics notwithstanding - let's just say everything is great and he's done a great job, but he still behaves the way he behaves - who behaves like that?'
'He used to be kind of like the boob of New York that pretended to be wealthy, or we thought was wealthy, and now he's just a psychotic. Is that putting too fine a point on it?'
In his closing remarks on Trump, Letterman reiterated his appeal to speak to the President, saying: 'I would just like to talk to the guy, because, as I said before, he knows me, I know him — what the hell went wrong?!'
Letterman started interviewing Trump back in the 80s when he was a young businessman, the cream of the crop of New York society.
Even then Trump was outspoken on his views on international relations, politics and money. In old interviews he appeared more relaxed and humorous opening up about his divorce settlement to Marla Maples and boasting about putting beauty pageant contestants in bikinis.
His old appearances are a far cry from the Twitter-ranting, diatribe-loving president we see today.
In 1997 Letterman asked Trump to describe a nice deed he did for someone recently. Trump replied, 'Well I married Marla and now I’m giving her a big settlement'.
In his earlier interviews on Letterman, Trump was a more relaxed and humorous talker who boasted about his business deals and raising his children. Pictured above on show in 1998
Letterman says he's shocked at Trump's transformation, from a regular talkative guest on his show to the 'soulless b*****d' in the White House today. Trump on the show in 2003
In 2010 Trump boasted about revitalizing the Miss USA beauty pageant saying he improved it by making 'the heels higher and the bathing suits smaller – and it was amazing'
Their last interview together: Trump's last appearance on the show was in 2015
After separating from her he even offered to set Letterman up with Maples, to which the host joked 'I’m going to wait and see how she makes out in the prenup'.
In 2008 he talked about then two-year-old Barron and proudly spoke about his five kids, portraying himself as a devoted family man. Even then he boasted about his million-dollar business deals.
In 2010 he talked about revitalizing the Miss USA beauty pageant and claimed he improved the show by changing then one-piece swimsuit competition by making 'the heels higher and the bathing suits smaller – and it was amazing'.
He would later face backlash for his treatment of beauty stars in the pageant, calling former Miss Universe Alicia Machado 'Miss Piggy'.
In 2012 he predicted that by 2016 China would be the leading world power for its economy – a foreshadowing of his current administration's tension with the country.
That interviewed demonstrated the playful dynamic between the seasoned host and Trump. Trump proclaimed that the U.S. shouldn't export jobs to China. Then Letterman procured a tie from Trump's clothing brand, examined the tag, and announced it was 'made in China'. Stumped, the businessman was left in silence.
But there has been beef between the two. Letterman slammed his long-time show guest as a racist for claiming that Barack Obama was not born in America.
Trump in turn boycotted the 'Late Show' over his insult. A year and a half later Letterman apologized in 2017.
Despite sharing chummy and friendly relationship that spanned over three decades, Letterman has been clear about his stance on the president.
'I have insight now that heretofore I did not have,' Letterman said to the Hollywood Reporter in 2017 after apologizing about calling Trump a racist. 'What we need now is somebody like myself to sit down with him and calmly get him to sign some papers and then have him leave the White House.'
