President Donald Trump had one non-negotiable demand for appearing on NBC's "Late Night" with Seth Meyers: that the host apologize, on-air, for making fun of Trump four years ago, Politico reports.
Meyers told Politico's "Off Message" podcast that Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen tried to negotiate for Trump to appear on "Late Night" as a guest, which the president seemed receptive to.
But according to Meyers, the talks broke down because he mocked Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner.
"Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke," Meyers said at the dinner, which he hosted.
He added that Cohen told him that an on-air apology was non-negotiable for Trump.
Meyers said that he didn't regret any of the jokes he's made about Trump.
"It doesn't resonate when you call not-a-clown a clown," he said.
"[Trump] turned himself into an object of ridicule," Meyers added, to explain why the president has become a target for many comedians. "This is a case of judo, where you're using someone else's momentum against them. It's not like we're attacking. We're just sort of like steering his weight and letting him take himself down."
The talk show host noted that Trump appears to hold a grudge against him for that routine at the Correspondents Dinner, having tweeted complaints about him multiple times in the years since.
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