Jimmy Kimmel has picked a new fight with Donald Trump after the president claimed he had inside intel that the talk show host is about to become unemployed.
On Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump posted, “The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone.”
He added, “These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”
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Kimmel reposted Trump’s claim and added the barb, “I’m hearing you’re next. Or maybe it’s just another wonderful secret.”
The dig references a line in a letter to Jeffrey Epstein that Trump vehemently denied writing, which finished with a wish that “every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal over the story.
He posted on Truth Social last week, “The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued.”
Trump is sniffing more late-night carnage after Paramount announced last week they were axing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Last Friday, Trump weighed in on the move, posting on Truth Social, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
There is already bad blood between Trump and Kimmel, with the pair having a feud that has played out on social media as well as TV.
Trump did appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, prior to him receiving the Republican presidential nomination the next year.
The host had him hold up a mock children’s book, with Trump’s name as author, titled “Winners Aren’t Losers.”
Kimmel regularly made jokes about Trump on his late-night show, but also called him out for political inactivity. In 2018, after a mass shooting at a Florida high school that saw 17 people die, Kimmel took aim at Trump in an emotional monologue.
“Children are being murdered,” Kimmel said. “Do something. We still haven’t even talked about it; you still haven’t done anything about it.”
Last March, when Kimmel was hosting the Academy Awards, Trump was hate-watching and let the world know.
He posted on Truth Social, “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less-than-average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be.”
It continued, “Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
During his hosting of the awards, Kimmel actually read the post out live on air and stated, “See if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truth Social.”
The host then thanked Trump for watching, and added, “Isn’t it past your jail time?”
At that time, Trump was facing multiple felony counts relating to attempting to overturn the 2020 election, hush-money payments to adult star Stormy Daniels, and hoarding classified documents in Florida.
This January, he became the first president to be elected while also being a convicted felon. He received an unconditional discharge in January.
Trump discussed his Academy Award social media post on Fox News’ MediaBuzz in March last year.
“Jimmy Kimmel is—every night he hits me,” the former president complained. “I guess his ratings are terrible. He’s not a talented guy. I hear he hits me all the time. So I figured I’d hit him because I thought he was a lousy host. I never expected he was gonna be reading it. This guy’s even dumber than I thought.”
In October 2024, seven months after the Oscars, Trump posted a flashback flip of Kimmel reading out his Truth Social post on the broadcast, with the caption “Remember this?”
He claimed Kimmel suffered from “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME” and added, “What a dope!”
