By Sean Lynch @the_other_lynch

Donald Trump was sharp in  his first appearance Tuesday night on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The GOP leader came into the interview fresh from his first interview on “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.” Colbert joked around with Trump but also had some serious questions to ask the candidates as well. Colbert has a strong political background because of his years hosting the “Colbert Report,” so he is able to challenge the candidates with questions about their policies.

Trump started out calm, which is quite contrary to how he has performed in the Republican debates. He received a standing ovation from a majority of the crowd and looked quite happy to be there. He also seemed to have won over Colbert, who became more subtle with his insults.

Colbert poked fun at Trump’s presidential run when he said  “Who knows, one day I may be able to tell my grandkids I interviewed the last president of the United States.”

There was a wide variety of topics that Trump talked about including: paying for his own campaign out of pocket, management of large debts to countries like China and the Iran Deal. He managed each topic quickly and concisely and was sharp on explaining his policies.

A focal point of the interview turned to immigration and the wall that Trump talked about build if elected. At one point, Colbert was imitating the President of Mexico. Trump played around with that sketch for some time but put his focus into his policies rather than on the humor.

Trump said to Colbert’s character “We are going to build a wall, you are going to pay for the wall; we have been abused for a long time at the border.”

Even after all the jeers about  him, Trump stayed composed throughout the interview. Colbert held back during the interview, having made most of his jokes without Trump present.

One big problem that came with Trump’s interview was that he would not answer the question about his previous remarks about Barack Obama not being born in the United States. This was a question that Trump had been trying to dodge for a long time because of his past vocal support of claims that Obama was not born in the United States.

Trump is not the first presidential candidate to find himself on Colbert’s “Late Show”. Candidates have come from both the Democratic and Republican parties.  Florida Governor Jeb Bush had a rough time on the show, getting mocked by Colbert and looked more uncomfortable than some of the other candidates that have been on.

Other candidates seemed to have more fun on the show like Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. All were ready for most questions brought up to them, and they had fun with Colbert’s different comedic jabs.

Trump has shown through his two late-night TV appearances that he can take most of the criticism that he has received. It is concerning to see that Trump would dodge a question from his past, but at the same time it was interesting to see how Colbert held back on Trump. Colbert seemed to step away from insulting Trump while he was in the room. While some viewers were looking for a battle between Trump in Colbert, they ended up with a friendly chat.