‘Hilarious’: Jimmy Kimmel Refuses to Back Down After Trump’s Warnings, Fires Off New Melania Jab and a Wild Twist About Their Marriage
Jimmy Kimmel, 58, is refusing to back down from his longtime feud with Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
The late-night comedian set off chaos when he joked that Melania, 56, had the “glow of an expectant widow” during an April 23 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
The Trumps were not amused and soon called for his firing. Just when people thought Kimmel had learned his lesson, he found a brand-new reason to make Melania a punchline.
The White House hosted a Mother’s Day event for grieving mothers whose children died in combat or were killed by undocumented immigrants. First lady delivered remarks but stumbled over prepared notes and mispronounced several words.
“Melania showed up to read a prepared statement, which A). she obviously hadn’t reviewed in advance, and B). showered praise not on the mothers for Mother’s Day, but on her husband, the biggest mother of all,” Kimmel joked on his May 6 show.
“I’ve never seen this happen before,” he continued, “Even Donald and Melania couldn’t keep a straight face.”
One line in particular especially caught Kimmel’s attention.
“Most know my husband as the strong commander in chief, but his empathy transcends the role and shapes a caring leader,” Melania said during the event.
Kimmel quickly seized on the remark, noting, “We finally got to see what makes them laugh. I really feel like I brought those two back together.”
He continued, “I really do. I’m getting no credit for it.”
Kimmel’s jab at Trump’s health and Melania’s visible annoyance with her husband drew backlash. The first lady later called out Kimmel over his controversial “widow” joke.
Jimmy Kimmel: “I said, ‘our first lady Melania’s here, look at her, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. Which, obviously, was a joke about their age difference… It was a very light roast joke”pic.twitter.com/TcxtSHkdwG
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) April 28, 2026
His wisecrack came days before Trump’s alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 25.
“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,” Melania tweeted on April 27.
The Slovenian-American immigrant added, “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?]”
Hours later, Trump doubled down on his wife’s call to remove Kimmel from airwaves. Taking to his Truth Social app, he wrote, “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
The bad blood between Trump and Kimmel goes back years. Their feud reached a breaking point in September 2025. “Live!” was briefly pulled after Kimmel commented on Trump’s reaction to a question about the killing of conservative Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel returned later with a promise to keep mocking Trump, Melania, and the current administration despite backlash from the White House.
His commentary has continued, including his May 4 live show, which targeted Trump’s bizarre late-night social media posts.
“Let’s look at one hour. These are all real posts from our president in the 11:00 hour on Friday night at 11:03,” said Kimmel. “He put up this image of him and members of his cabinet taking a dip in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.”
Trump turned the reflecting pool into his personal lounging pool..it’s why he’s painting the surface around the pool blue at the cost of 1.5 million and it’s taking over three months pic.twitter.com/3CrAFJESy3
— Ulrich Ulfhednar (@UlrichUlfhednar) May 3, 2026
He then showed the image to the crowd, “I don’t know who the woman in the bikini is or how the AI was able to shave 80 pounds off [Trump’s] gut, but everyone looks great.
“A minute later, at 11:04, he posted this even more unbelievable picture of Melania smiling. I don’t know the last time we saw that,” he continued.
Kimmel carried on with his takedown of Trump’s reiteration that Melania “hates” when he dances at public events.
His latest snarky dressing down of Trump and Melania received kudos from Kimmel’s fans. Two YouTubers said, “Get em Jimmy! We love you!!” and “Keep it up JIMMY!!!!”
Fans from all over the world chimed in, as one person wrote, “OMG, such an excellent show from Geneva Switzerland, bravo!”
Another said, “Thank you Jimmy!!! It is appreciated to be recognized by you. Keep speaking the truth. Hilarious, I might add.”
Kimmel’s latest jab makes one thing clear: neither side seems ready to let this feud die down. Every new joke only adds more fuel to the already messy back-and-forth between the comedian and the Trumps.