"Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings" - Trump rages about the talk show host's return on Truth Social

On Tuesday, September 23, Jimmy Kimmel returned with his late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC News, which attracted a strong backlash from President Donald Trump. 

a lot of people were like “Jimmy Kimmel being back on PROVES there was no government coercion against free speech” and then Trump just posted he’s going to sue ABC for putting Jimmy Kimmel back on pic.twitter.com/IaVGi6R12B

— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) September 24, 2025

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he couldn't believe that Kimmel's job was returned to him, pointing out that the White House was informed otherwise by the network. He added:

"Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution."

Trump went on to say that he was going to "test ABC out" on his theory of illegal campaign contribution, before adding:

"Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings."

The "$16 million" that Trump has spoken about in his latest post refers to the 2024 settlement he had reached with Disney for his defamation suit against ABC News. 

The President had sued news anchor George Stephanopoulos - as well as his network - for asserting that he was found "liable for r*pe by a jury" on the channel. Trump called it "incorrect," when in truth the jury's verdict had held him liable for s*xual abuse and not r*pe. 

Trump's reaction comes as Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off-air by ABC for less than a week, after the host's controversial comments about Charlie Kirk's killing. 

Last week (on Monday, September 15), Kimmel suggested in his opening monologue that Kirk's killer, Tyler Robinson, was a MAGA supporter, over which he faced criticism both online and offline. 

Jimmy Kimmel accused Trump of not being able to take a joke

Jimmy Kimmel goes after Trump and Brendan Carr for trying to shut down his show:

“The President made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here, fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a… pic.twitter.com/vpmoWQNrON

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 24, 2025

Upon his return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night, the comedian also addressed Trump's intentions of making him lose his job, saying:

"The President of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke."

Kimmel added that Trump's efforts towards cancelling his show worked in the opposite direction, and ended up forcing "millions of people to watch" it instead. The host continued:

"One thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern, is that a government threat to silence a comedian the President doesn’t like is anti American."

The conclusion of Jimmy Kimmel's monologue addressed Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, and her speech at her late husband's memorial in Arizona. Repeating how Erika had chosen to forgive the man who shot Charlie, Kimmel claimed that it was "an example we should all follow".