Late night host Jimmy Kimmel answered the American president of Donald Trump call for him to be fired immediately after calling the president’s wife, Melania Trumpa “widow-in-waiting” during a segment that aired two days before a gunman opened fire outside White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Kimmel responded to both Trump and Melania during his opening monologue Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday after the two asked ABC to take action against the host.
“You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady issues a statement demanding you be fired? We’ve all been there, haven’t we?” Kimmel began.
“I greeted the day with 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 mock roast. I said, ‘Our first lady, Melania is here.’ Look at that. How beautiful. Miss K, like a woman, said a woman.” “It was obviously a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face whenever they’re together.”
Kimmel said Trump’s call for his impeachment is like “‘déjà vu’ today with all the news channels talking about it.”
“It was a very light joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than me,” he added. “It was by no means a call to kill and they know 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 have to reject.”
“Yes, and I think a great place to start to get that answer would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,” Kimmel said. “I should also point out that Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and I, as are all of us, because under the First Amendment we as Americans have the right to free speech.”
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“I’m sorry that you and the president and everybody in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am,” Kimmel said, speaking directly to Melania. “Just because nobody got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary. And we have to come together and be the best. We really have to.”
Kimmel rejected comments made earlier by White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt and played a clip of her speech “There will be some shooting” 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 bearing on anything that happened, well, maybe you should also look at this psychic lady,” Kimmel said.
IN a real social monday postsaid Trump Kimmel, “who is not funny at all as evidenced by his terrible TV ratings,” made a statement on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “That’s really shocking.”
“He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, as if they were sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they were not and never would be,” Trump wrote. “He then said, ‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of a widow-in-waiting.”
“A day later a madman tried to walk into the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Ballroom, armed with a shotgun, pistol and many knives. He was there for a very clear and sinister reason,” Trump continued.
Trump said he appreciated that “a lot of people” are “outraged by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence and normally wouldn’t respond to anything he said, but this is something way beyond the pale.”
“Jimmy Kimmel should be fired immediately by Disney and ABC,” Trump added.
Trump’s post came after Melania shared a statement on X Monday, calling on ABC to “take a stand” against Kimmel for his comments.
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is meant to divide our country,” Melania wrote. “His monologue about my family is not comedy — his words are corrosive and deepen the political malaise within America.”
Melania said that “people like Kimmel” should not be “able to come into our homes every night to spread hate.”
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will continue to work to protect him,” she continued. “Enough is enough. It’s time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC leadership enable Kimmel’s cruel behavior at the expense of our community.”
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 everyone in formal wear, gowns, tuxedos. I haven’t seen so much black since every page of the Trump-Epstein files,” Kimmel said.
“I’m glad 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, excuse me. Do we have a Jesus in the house? I always confuse them, too,” Kimmel said before introducing a video of Trump smiling into a crowd.
“And of course, our first lady, Melania, is here. How beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of a widow-in-waiting,” Kimmel said. “You know, Melania’s birthday is on Sunday. It’s true. She’s planning to celebrate at home, the same way she always does, looking out the window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’
Trump’s latest call for ABC to fire Kimmel comes as his future appeared in doubt in September 2025, when ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! ABOUT the remarks made after the assassination of the right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirkwho died after being shot at a rally at the Turning Point in the US on September 10. After a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspensionand Kimmel returned to the air.
