The hosts of America's popular late-night talk shows have put on a rare united front in response to criticism from President Donald Trump.

In a taped segment that opened both Stephen Colbert's The Late Show and Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show on Tuesday, Colbert and Fallon were seen responding to his recent slights.

Fellow talk show host Conan O'Brien also appeared in the segment.

It followed Trump disparaging them at a South Carolina rally on Monday.

During his speech, the President described Colbert as a "lowlife", Fallon as a "lost soul" and Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC's late night show, as "terrible".

"I mean honestly, are these people funny?" he continued. "There's no talent. They're not like talented people."

Colbert and Fallon responded by broadcasting a mock video chat, in which they addressed each other as "lowlife" and "lost soul".

"I heard he said some pretty bad stuff about us," Fallon can be seen saying in reference to Trump's stump speech.

"That doesn't sound like him," Colbert responded before agreeing to meet his NBC rival for lunch at a Red Hen restaurant.

The US chain has also been attacked by Trump after his press secretary Sarah Sanders was refused service at one of its branches.

O'Brien, whose show airs on the TBS channel, is seen in the skit calling Trump "the real estate guy who sells steaks".

He is also seen exhorting his competitors "be civil", adding: "If we're not careful, this could start to get ugly."

Colbert made further comic capital from Trump's remarks by having his show announcer describe him as "the guy on CBS".

That was how the President referred to him while speaking on Monday at a rally for South Carolina governor Henry McMaster.

Fallon has faced criticism over a 2016 interview with Trump in which he messed up the then presidential candidate's hair.

Fallon recently apologised for the interview, which led to Trump accusing him of "whimpering" on Twitter and telling him he should "be a man".

The remarks formed part of the banter in Tuesday's taped segment, described as "a rare collaboration" by trade paper Variety.