“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump, his administration and Republicans in Congress were doing everything they could to avoid calling the conflict in Iran a war.

But, they were all undermined by a single person: Trump himself.

Colbert pointed to a White House memo with talking points telling the president’s allies not to use the word “war.” Instead, they were told to call it “targeted major combat operations.”

“So, it’s worse than a war,” Colbert said. “It’s a war that got a thesaurus for Christmas.”

But Colbert spotted two moments where Trump used the very word they’ve all been trying to avoid ― including this one:

“You know you’re not supposed to say it, but that just puts the word in your brain,” Colbert said. “It’s like when your boss has a huge pimple on his nose, and you’re like, ‘Don’t talk about the pimple,’ but as soon as he walks in, you go, ‘Hi, Mr. Pimple!’”

See more in his Wednesday night monologue: