Trump says if he can’t top ‘horrible’ Jimmy Kimmel’s talent, he ‘shouldn’t be the president’
🇺🇸 TRUMP: "IF I CAN'T BEAT KIMMEL IN TERMS OF TALENT, IT'S TIME TO HANG UP THE GLOVES!"
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 6, 2025
Trump turned the White House medal presentation for the 48th Kennedy Center Honors into pure entertainment Friday, joking about becoming the first sitting president to host the gala:
"I… https://t.co/MV86UF3oIX pic.twitter.com/fhxs14qhha
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump spent Saturday night, December 6, in the Oval Office hosting the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees. He handed out medals to George Strait, Michael Crawford, Sylvester Stallone, and the rock legends of Kiss.
In the middle of it all, Trump tossed a jab at Late Night host Jimmy Kimmel. He said he “should hang up his gloves as president, if he is unable to beat Kimmel's talent.”
Trump dragged Kimmel into the comparison because he was hosting the ceremony. He lined himself up with Kimmel, who also hosts shows, and flat-out called him “horrible."
Trump ties his presidential confidence to outperforming Jimmy Kimmel
Donald Trump said that if he can’t beat Jimmy Kimmel’s talent, he should hang up his gloves as president.
The commander-in-chief highlighted that he would be the first president ever to host the Kennedy Center Awards ceremony. He also took a moment to swipe at Jimmy Kimmel.
“I look forward to celebrating with all of you at the Kennedy Center tomorrow. And it’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done.”
“And they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings. But there’s nothing like what’s going to happen tomorrow night.” “I just want to thank you all, I want to congratulate you all, and I want to thank the media - they’ve treated this with such great respect.”
“We very much appreciate it. Now we’re going to go to the State Department with Secretary of State Rubio and have a special event, something which was never done before, but we’ve never had a president hosting the awards before. This is a first.”
“I’m sure they’ll give me great reviews, right? You know? They’ll say, ‘He was horrible, he was terrible.’ ‘It was a horrible situation’ No, I think we’ll do fine. I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible.” “Some of these people - if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president,” he concluded.
Back in August, Trump said he planned to host the Kennedy Center Awards. “It’s going to be a big evening. I’ve been asked to host,” Trump said at the time. “I said, ‘I’m the president of the United States. Are you fools asking me to do that?"
"‘Sir, you’ll get much higher ratings.’ I said, ‘I don’t care. I’m president of United States, I won’t do it.’ They said, ‘Please.’ And then Susie Wiles said to me, ‘Sir, why can’t you host?’ I said, ‘Okay, Susie, I’ll do it.’ That’s the power she’s got.”
Trump hits Jimmy Kimmel after brief ABC suspension
Donald Trump’s jab at Jimmy Kimmel comes right after a tough moment for the ABC host. Kimmel was briefly suspended in September after he suggested that the man who killed conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was a Trump supporter.
The comment brought criticism from Nexstar and Sinclair. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said on September 17 that he felt Kimmel’s remark deserved some kind of punishment.
Kimmel was suspended a few hours later, and Trump slammed the show host for his comments regarding Kirk.
After a short period, Kimmel returned to the air on September 22, ending the brief suspension.
