Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel responded to U.S. President Donald Trump, calling him a “horrible” host after he promised to do a better job while hosting the Kennedy Center Honors over the weekend.
“If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president,” Trump, 79, told reporters in the Oval Office ahead of the event on Sunday night.
During his opening monologue on Monday, Kimmel, 58, said, “I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with anything more than that. Do you think he even knows I’ve never hosted the Kennedy Center Honors? Maybe he’s confusing me with Queen Latifah?”
“As far as this whole ‘who has more talent’ thing goes, it seems like he’s challenging me to a contest? If so, I’m open to it. Let’s do it. Let’s have a talent competition,” Kimmel said in response to Trump’s criticism.
“I’ll come on, I’ll tell a few jokes. I’ll draw something, I’ll play my clarinet. He can play golf, spank a porn star and ruin a country.”
Kimmel went on to joke that Trump’s comments were “very hurtful.”
“I thought we were friends. I don’t know what’s going on. He is really fixated. I’m starting to think he might have a crush on me.”
At the end of his monologue, Kimmel confirmed his contract extension for Jimmy Kimmel Live! and acknowledged that Trump might not be too happy about it.
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“The last thing I want to do is upset you during this sensitive time,” Kimmel said to Trump. “But I have one more bit of entertainment news to share, and that is that I have decided to extend my contract here at ABC for another year.”
Kimmel joked that the show would stay on the air until May 2027, “or until the world ends, whichever comes first.”
“I thought about it, I gave it a lot of thought, and decided I would like to spend less time with my family,” Kimmel continued. “So, to our audience here and at home, I’m honoured and humbled to be part of your routine, whether it’s in bed at night or during your morning toilet time. It means a lot to me to have your attention.”
Kimmel’s previous, multi-year contract with ABC had been set to expire next May. The extension will keep him on the air until at least May 2027.
The late-night host also shared the news on Instagram, writing, “I am pleased to announce another no-talent year!”
Kimmel’s future looked questionable in September, 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 much stronger ratings than he had before.
He continued his relentless joking at the president’s expense, leading Trump to urge the network to “get the bum off the air” in a social media post last month. The post followed Kimmel’s nearly 10-minute monologue about Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein files.
In his monologue, one day after the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate voted in quick succession to pass a bill compelling the Department of Justice to release files relating to the deceased convicted sex offender, Kimmel said: “We are now one step closer to answering the question: What did the president know, and how old were these women when he knew it?”
Hours after the show aired, Trump posted on Truth Social that Jimmy Kimmel Live! should be taken off the air again.
“Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?” Trump wrote. “Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it?”
Trump also called Kimmel’s comments “totally biased.”
— With files from Global News’ Rachel Goodman and The Associated Press
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