Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for him to be “immediately fired” after he called the president’s wife, Melania Trump, an “expectant widow” during a segment that aired two days before a gunman opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Kimmel responded to both Trump and Melania during his opening monologue of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday after they both called for ABC to take action against the host.
“You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We’ve all been there, right?” Kimmel began.
“I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm and a call to fire me from our first lady, Melania Trump, saying I should be fired because of a joke I made again five nights ago. It was a pretend roast. I said, ‘Our first lady, Melania’s here. Look at her. So Beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,’” Kimmel said. “It obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.”
Kimmel said the Trumps’ calling for him to be fired is like “‘déjà vu’ today with all the news channels talking about this.”
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” he added. “It was not by any stretch a call to assassination and they know that I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.”
Kimmel said he agrees “that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject.”
“I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,” Kimmel said. “I also should point out that Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I, as are all of us, because under the First Amendment we have as Americans a right to free speech.”
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“I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am,” Kimmel said, directly speaking to Melania. “Just because no one got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary. And we should come together and be best. We really should.”
Kimmel rebutted the comments made earlier by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and played a clip of her saying “there will be some shots fired” in a red carpet interview at the dinner.
“But if you want us to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, well, maybe you should look into this psychic lady, too,” Kimmel said.
In a post on Truth Social Monday, Trump said Kimmel, “who is in no way funny as attested by his terrible Television ratings,” made a statement on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “that is really shocking.”
“He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be,” Trump wrote. “He then stated, ‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.’”
“A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason,” Trump continued.
Trump said he appreciated that “many people” are “incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale.”
“Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” Trump added.
Trump’s post came after Melania shared a statement on X Monday, calling for ABC to “take a stand” against Kimmel over his comments.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” Melania wrote. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”
Melania said “people like Kimmel” shouldn’t have “the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him,” she continued. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”
Disney’s board chair on Tuesday said large companies from time to time face “these kinds of issues” to resolve.
“It’s the job of the CEO with their team to figure out the right answer and they’ll be guided by the board,” Gorman told a business conference in Oslo.
He declined to say what advice he or the board would give regarding the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, Reuters reports.
“We have a terrific new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, he’s world class so I’m sure he’ll rise to the occasion and do what the right thing is,” Gorman said.
Kimmel’s joke came during a mock version of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where he pretended to be the host.
“Welcome to the 2026 correspondents’ dinner. Look at you all dressed up in formal wear, dresses, tuxedos. I haven’t seen this much black since every page of the Trump-Epstein files,” Kimmel said.
“I’m happy you decided to stay, Mr. President. And don’t worry, if we bruise your ego, it’ll only make your hands look less disgusting,” Kimmel continued. “The president didn’t want me to tell any jokes about him tonight but he also didn’t want to pay me $130,000 to shut up, so here we are.”
“By the way, in the unfortunate event that our president has a medical emergency tonight, do we have a doctor in the house — wait, sorry. Do we have a Jesus in the house? I always confuse them, too,” Kimmel said before cutting to a clip of Trump smiling in a crowd.
“And of course, our first lady, Melania, is here. So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said. “You know, Melania’s birthday is on Sunday. That’s right. She’s planning to celebrate at home, the same way she always does, looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”
Trump’s latest call for ABC to fire Kimmel comes after his future looked questionable in September 2025, when ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! for remarks made following the killing of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk, who died after being shot at a Turning Point USA rally on Sept. 10. Following a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspension, and Kimmel returned to the air.
— with files from Reuters
