What sparked Trump’s latest comments on Jimmy Kimmel at the Kennedy Center event?

US President Donald Trump resurrected his standing feud with Jimmy Kimmel during a December 6 ceremony at the Oval Office, where he gave this year’s Kennedy Center honorees their medals. The surprise comment came as Trump geared up to host the Kennedy Center Honors in 2025, and added a new chapter in a fight that has escalated over the course of this year.

The 79-year-old, speaking to reporters, said critics would give him poor marks for the ceremony no matter what he did. He followed that up with late night TV hosts, specifically calling out Kimmel.

In a reference to past hosts of the annual gala, Trump said he had seen “some of the people that host,” and then added, “Jimmy Kimmel was horrible.” It did not stop there, and he added:

""We have never had a president hosting the awards before. This is the first... If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president."

Trump Mocks Jimmy Kimmel

"I watched some of the people who hosted. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible... If I can't beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent then I don't think I should be president." https://t.co/zy3rPluqMY pic.twitter.com/eyPLU1p4BW

— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) December 6, 2025

The dig was the latest in a series of public jabs exchanged by the pair. Their fight started in September when Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended for several episodes after Kimmel allegedly joked about the death of Charlie Kirk.

Later, Trump said as part of a visit to the U.K. that Kimmel had been basically “fired for lack of talent.”

He doubled down on social media in November, calling the host a “man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS.”

Jimmy Kimmel's most recent response to his ongoing feud with Donald Trump

In a recent episode of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, Kimmel quipped that he had to be told by his wife that Trump was taking a swing at him once more, explaining that he just continued his morning as per usual.

On the air, he ridiculed Trump as a “snowflake” and rightfully claimed to have lost count of how many times the president had attempted to knock him off television.

If a neighbour regularly threatened someone like that, Jimmy Kimmel pointed out, it would be more than enough to obtain a restraining order.

"Every five weeks, he flips out and wants me fired. If you got this many threats from a neighbor, you’d have no problem getting a restraining order. The judge would be like, ‘Yeah, sounds like the guy’s nuts.’ Boom. It’s disturbing," he remarked.

Jimmy Kimmel to Trump tonight: "I'll go when you go, okay? We'll be a team. Let's ride off into the sunset together like butch Cassidy and the suntan kid. [ Laughter ] And until then, if I may borrow a phrase from you: 'quiet, piggy.'" pic.twitter.com/FxFx3x6XH0

— LateNighter (@latenightercom) November 21, 2025

He also said that he would step down himself, if Trump would resign as well, and stated that the two men could “ride off into the sunset together.”

Kimmel also referred to a recent FCC notice requesting public input into whether national broadcasters exert too much influence over local stations, a notice he says is related to his September suspension.

For now, the back and forth between the president and the late-night host has shown no signs of letting up.

As Trump persists in publicly attacking Kimmel, Kimmel responds with his usual comedic punchlines.