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Fact check: Did President Trump ever publicly call for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired?
Executive Summary
President Trump repeatedly criticized Jimmy Kimmel in public posts and interviews in September 2025, celebrating what he described as Kimmel’s suspension or cancellation and predicting further removals from late-night TV, but contemporary reporting shows no clear, contemporaneous quote in which Trump explicitly says “fire Jimmy Kimmel.” Multiple outlets recorded Trump calling Kimmel “not funny,” celebrating the program’s suspension and hinting ABC would be “tested,” which critics and Kimmel interpreted as a call to remove or silence him; however the available contemporaneous accounts vary on whether Trump issued a direct demand that Kimmel be fired [1] [2].
1. How the Claim Emerged — Trump’s Public Attacks and Celebrations of Cancellation
Reporting in late September 2025 documents a pattern of Trump publicly attacking Kimmel’s talent and celebrating his removal from the air, with posts on Truth Social and repeated comments characterizing Kimmel as “not funny” and saying his audience is gone [3] [4]. Multiple reports note Trump “celebrating his suspension” and suggesting the show was or would be “canceled,” language that can reasonably be read as advocating removal of Kimmel from the program or the airwaves, though those same pieces also record ABC and Disney not framing the event as a firing [1] [5]. The mix of triumphal rhetoric and statements about cancellations is central to how the “called to be fired” narrative spread.
2. What Trump Actually Said — Direct Quotes Versus Implication
Examination of the contemporaneous summaries shows direct quotations of Trump insulting Kimmel’s talent and saying he should “rot” or that ABC was wrong to bring him back, but no single, unequivocal quote spelling out “fire him now.” Several articles capture Trump asserting he was told Kimmel’s show would be canceled next, predicting other hosts would be “gone,” and threatening to “test ABC,” which can be read as a threat of pressure or legal challenge rather than a literal employer instruction [6] [1] [4]. Journalists differ on whether this amounts to a public call for termination or aggressive rhetorical pressure.
3. How Media Outlets Framed the Statements — Tone and Attribution Differences
Coverage divides along framing choices: some outlets described Trump as “calling for” or “threatening” Kimmel’s job, while others emphasized Trump’s insults and predictions without asserting he explicitly demanded Kimmel be fired [1] [3]. Those that reported Trump “slammed” or “celebrated” a cancellation emphasized the political theater and potential chilling effect on speech, while others noted a lack of a direct order to ABC to fire Kimmel, highlighting that ABC/Disney did not officially call the suspension a firing [1] [7]. The variance reflects editorial judgment on when implied pressure becomes a public call for dismissal.
4. Kimmel’s Response and Free-Speech Framing — What the Comedian Said Next
Jimmy Kimmel’s return to the air featured a direct rebuke of Trump’s approach, framing the episode as an attack on free speech and the press, and daring Trump to follow through with efforts to “cancel” him [8] [7]. Kimmel characterized Trump’s behavior as targeting journalists and comedians alike, and used his platform to push back against what he called an effort to silence dissenting voices. Media reports capture Kimmel’s defiance and his assertion that Trump aimed beyond comedy, though these pieces do not document Trump issuing legal or administrative orders to ABC to terminate Kimmel.
5. Broader Context — A Longstanding Feud That Shapes Interpretation
The episodes in September 2025 sit on top of a long-running feud in which Trump has repeatedly insulted Kimmel’s intelligence and talent and publicly celebrated setbacks to late-night hosts [5] [2]. That background makes readers and some journalists more likely to interpret Trump’s celebratory and predictive language as a call for employment consequences. The context of prior attacks and the charged political environment help explain why many observers perceived his comments as effectively urging Kimmel’s removal even in the absence of a single, explicit “fire him” command.
6. What Facts Are Firm and Where Uncertainty Remains
The firm facts across multiple contemporaneous reports are: Trump publicly attacked Kimmel’s skill and character, celebrated suspension/cancellation language, and threatened to “test” ABC, while ABC/Disney did not initially label the action as a firing [1] [7]. Uncertainty remains on whether Trump literally and explicitly directed ABC to fire Kimmel; published summaries and quotes in the available reporting do not contain such an unambiguous directive. Readers should note the distinction between explicit orders and public pressure that could be interpreted as a demand.
7. Conclusion — Bottom Line for the Claim “Did Trump Call for Kimmel to be Fired?”
Based on the contemporaneous reporting reviewed, the accurate statement is: Trump publicly attacked and celebrated actions against Kimmel and implied or predicted further removals, but the record lacks a clearly documented, explicit public command from Trump instructing ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel. Some outlets and commentators interpret his rhetoric as a de facto call for termination; others emphasize the absence of a verbatim firing order, making the truth a matter of interpretation shaped by political context [1] [3] [2].