After Donald Trump’s attacks last fall, the controversy now also affects his wife Melania, who is now targeting Jimmy Kimmel. The American president demanded on Monday, April 27th the immediate dismissal of the ABC host, following a joke targeting the First Lady deemed “obnoxious”.
In his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” broadcast last week, the host joked about Melania Trump being “radiant like a widow in training”. A comment that Donald Trump sees as a “call to violence”. “This has gone too far. Jimmy Kimmel must be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The particular sketch in question, aired before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25th, took the form of a fake gala. “Welcome to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner 2026,” the host announced, before delivering barbs, including the one about Melania Trump.
However, two days later, the context changed. Last Saturday, during the same dinner attended by the presidential couple, an assassination attempt on Donald Trump was thwarted. According to the U.S. executive, an armed man tried to sneak in with the intention of killing the president and several high-ranking officials. The sketch, broadcast before the incident, is now being reevaluated in light of this episode.
Amidst this backdrop, Melania Trump broke her silence to respond directly to the comedian. On her platform, she criticizes a “hateful and violent rhetoric” aimed at “dividing the country”. “His monologue about my family is not comedy: his words are caustic and exacerbate the political illness plaguing America,” she wrote.
“People like Kimmel should not have the opportunity to enter our homes every night to spread hate,” continues the First Lady. “Coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will continue to cover for him to protect him. Enough is enough. It’s time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will its management tolerate this odious behavior at the expense of our society?”
##Kimmel and the Trumps… a long history
This is not the first time Jimmy Kimmel has been at the center of a major political controversy. In September 2025, the host was suspended by ABC after comments about the assassination of pro-Trump influencer Charlie Kirk. In his show, he stated that “the MAGA clique […] is doing everything possible to gain a political advantage.”
The network, owned by Disney, then halted “Jimmy Kimmel Live” indefinitely, a decision praised by Donald Trump as “great news for America.” But faced with censorship accusations, ABC eventually reinstated the host on air a week later.
