A political and media dispute has erupted involving United States President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel.
Melania publicly criticised Kimmel on Monday and urged the TV network ABC to take action against him. The president has gone further, calling for Kimmel to be removed from his role altogether.
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The controversy centres on remarks Kimmel made during a comedy monologue on Thursday in which he said Melania had “a glow like an expectant widow”, with Trump describing the comments as “a despicable call to violence”.
Here is what you need to know about the controversy:
What did Kimmel say?
The dispute began after Kimmel made a joke about the first lady during a segment tied to the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday.
At an “alternative” White House correspondents’ dinner on his show, Kimmel said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Kimmel also mocked the first lady’s documentary, Melania, which faltered at the box office and was not well-received by critics.
“I want to congratulate you, Madam First Lady, on your huge accomplishment – the world’s first motionless picture,” Kimmel said.
The controversy comes on the back of a shooting that happened late on Saturday when an armed man tried to enter the hall where Trump, the first lady and other members of the White House were in attendance, alongside hundreds of journalists.
Following the incident, the video of Kimmel poking fun at Melania caused outrage from some members of the president’s Republican Party.
How did the Trumps react?
While the joke played on the perception that the first lady often appears unhappy in public, Trump’s supporters linked the line to the shooting.
“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 wrote on X.
“Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community?”
Her husband did not hold back either in his criticism of the late-night comedian. He went further, calling for his dismissal.
“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president said on his Truth Social platform.
“Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired” by ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co, he added.
The White House also chimed in on the controversy. “Who, in their right mind, says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said to reporters.
Kimmel responded, saying his remarks had been misconstrued and were not a “call to assassination”. “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” he said.
Have they had past troubles with Kimmel?
Yes, the current controversy is part of a longer pattern of tension between Kimmel and the Trumps.
The president and the late-night host have had a strained relationship for years, largely due to Kimmel’s frequent criticism and mockery of Trump on his show.
Trump has often accused comedians and journalists of bias, and Kimmel has been among those singled out in the past.
Last year, ABC suspended Kimmel after the Trump administration threatened to take action against the network over commentary by the comedian suggesting that the killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk may have been a Republican.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said at the time.
“These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” he said.
After a backlash from free speech advocates, ABC reinstated Kimmel less than a week later.
In an interview on Sunday, Trump reacted angrily when Norah O’Donnell of CBS News read from the manifesto of the Saturday attack’s suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, during a 60 Minutes interview.
When O’Donnell quoted the attacker’s claims, Trump interrupted and criticised her for airing the remarks.
“You’re a disgrace,” he lashed out at O’Donnell. “I’m not a paedophile. You read that crap from some sick person … You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes.”
CBS is owned by Paramount Skydance, whose chairman and CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, a close Trump ally.
In July 2025, the network paid $16m to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump, who alleged that 60 Minutes had edited an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in a way that favoured his Democratic presidential rival in the 2024 election.
It has also appointed Kenneth Weinstein, a former Trump administration official, as ombudsman to examine claims of political bias.
In December, Ellison visited the White House, according to media reports, and told Trump that Paramount would carry out “sweeping changes” if it succeeded in buying the parent company of CNN.
Paramount Skydance is also locked in an intense battle with streaming giant Netflix to acquire Warner Bros, a move many in the industry see as part of Ellison’s bid to reshape the US media landscape.
