Kimmel Responds to President Trump Over Sick Melania Joke
Late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel responded to Donald Trump’s criticism of the comedian’s off-color joke directed at first lady Melania Trump earlier late last week in which he referenced her becoming a “widow” not long before another attempt was made on the president’s life Saturday during the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Kimmel made the remark during his late-night program while imagining himself hosting the WHCA Dinner, where he delivered jokes aimed at the president and first lady, Fox News reported. “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” the ABC host said.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said. “It was not—by any stretch of the definition—a call to assassination.”
Kimmel then continued to criticize the first lady, doubling down on political rhetoric after President Trump’s warnings.
“Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said, adding that “they know that” was not a joke about “assassination” but Trump dying of old age.
In a post on X, Melania Trump called Kimmel’s joke about her “hateful and violent” and urged ABC — which airs his show — to take action.
Following the insult, the Federal Communications Commission ordered The Walt Disney Company’s ABC to seek early broadcast license renewals for the eight TV stations it owns, NPR reported.
As the FCC began its early license renewal process, Chair Brendan Carr expressed criticism towards Disney, the parent company of ABC. In a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, whose husband is Stephen Miller, the Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House, Carr mentioned several approaches the FCC can take regarding broadcast licenses.
“You can accelerate when a license comes due and say, ‘hey, we have significant concerns with the value of conducting your operations. We want to review your license now and decide if you’re in the public interest,'” Carr said. “If we find that a broadcast hasn’t been doing that, then the statute requires us to issue a hearing designation order.”
But the Trumps’ responses and the FCC’s demand have seemingly not affected Kimmel, who responded to all of that during his Tuesday show by essentially saying he’ll continue on, per CNN Business. He avoided mentioning the FCC’s actions and instead “used a satirical monologue on King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to the White House to highlight the hypocrisy of a joke the president made about his marriage to first lady Melania Trump,” CNN noted.
During an arrival ceremony for the royals, Trump spoke Tuesday about his parents’ 63-year-marriage before he turned to the first lady and joked, “That’s a record we won’t be able to match, darling, I’m sorry.”
Kimmel then referenced his off-color joke about the first lady and asked his audience, “Wait a minute, did he just make a joke about his death?”
“Only Donald Trump would demand that I be fired for making a joke about his old age and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his old age,” Kimmel said.
The new FCC order, meanwhile, is naturally being criticized by Democrats on Capitol Hill and others in Washington. “The FCC has just pulled out a sword to hang over every single news organization in America,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren told NPR. “And to say: you report things that Donald Trump doesn’t like and your entire station, your entire outfit, your entire business model could just disappear in the blink of an eye.”
BREAKING NOW: 'National Emergency' Declared, Trump Called In
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States has imposed a blockade preventing Iranian ships from transiting the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to restrict passage for other vessels.
Rubio stated that the measure has already cost Iran hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. He said the decision followed Iran’s failure to reach an agreement on reopening the waterway to all shipping.
Rubio described the current talks with Iran as distinct from negotiations with other countries, noting that the Iranian decision-making process is slow and fragmented.
He said the regime has recently agreed to discuss aspects of its nuclear program that it had previously refused to address. At the same time, he indicated that U.S. patience is limited and that further progress is required on nuclear issues and the status of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media reported that Tehran had suspended talks with the United States, citing Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. President Trump stated on social media that negotiations between the two countries remain ongoing.
Rubio’s testimony did not directly address the Iranian media reports but emphasized that any agreement would need to include verifiable steps on Iran’s nuclear activities and the restoration of open passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade and the status of talks come as the United States continues to enforce export controls and sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program and regional activities.
Administration officials have described the current approach as combining diplomatic engagement with measures to increase pressure on Tehran. Rubio’s remarks before the committee provided the most detailed public update on the status of the discussions in recent days.
The situation remains fluid, with both sides continuing to exchange messages through diplomatic channels. No timeline for further rounds of talks or specific next steps was announced during the hearing. Congressional committees are expected to continue monitoring developments related to Iran policy in the coming weeks.
Vote To Remove Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar From Congress Being Considered By Republican Congressman
In a closely divided 5-3 vote that fell one short of the required threshold, Minnesota House Republicans failed to secure a subpoena compelling U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar to testify and produce documents tied to the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal.
The outcome on May 5 marked the dramatic conclusion of months of mounting scrutiny over the congresswoman’s legislative actions and community outreach during the pandemic-era program at the center of one of the largest federal fraud investigations in recent Minnesota history. The House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, operating under a bipartisan agreement that demands six votes to authorize a subpoena, saw every Republican member support the measure while all three Democrats opposed it.
Committee Chair Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) argued that the subpoena had become the only remaining tool after Omar repeatedly declined invitations to appear and failed to respond to formal document requests.
“We have reached out to Representative Ilhan Omar on multiple occasions, inviting her to testify and inviting and requesting documents,” Robbins said ahead of the vote. “The only tool left for us as a committee if we want to get these documents is to issue a subpoena.”
Republicans on the panel have focused on Omar’s sponsorship of the federal MEALS Act, enacted in March 2020. They contend the legislation loosened critical oversight requirements in federal child nutrition programs and helped create the conditions that enabled large-scale fraud.
“Representative Omar had some role, whether inadvertent or not,” Robbins said. “She passed the MEALS Act in March of 2020, and that took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program which created the conditions for Feeding Our Future.”
The Feeding Our Future scandal stands as one of Minnesota’s most significant public corruption cases in recent decades. Federal prosecutors allege that organizers and associates diverted hundreds of millions of dollars intended to feed low-income children through fabricated meal claims, shell nonprofit organizations, and fraudulent reimbursement requests. Dozens of individuals have been charged, including nonprofit founder Aimee Bock and multiple business operators connected to Minnesota’s Somali community.
Committee Republicans specifically sought communications between Omar’s office and several individuals named in the federal investigation, along with records related to her public promotion of Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, a business later linked to the scandal. Robbins also referenced a Somali-language television appearance in which Omar highlighted the restaurant as a meal distribution site during the pandemic.
“We thought it’d be very helpful to understand from Rep. Omar’s perspective how she thought the MEALS Act impacted the community, why she brought it, what communication she had with the fraudsters,” Robbins said during the hearing.
Democrats on the committee strongly opposed the effort, accusing Republicans of politicizing the investigation and targeting Omar for partisan advantage. Dave Pinto, the committee’s lead Democrat, questioned both the timing and practical purpose of pursuing a subpoena with only days remaining in the legislative session.
“Even if Omar were to testify or information is received, I do not see the committee doing anything with that information,” Pinto argued.
Pinto further referenced broader concerns about investigations involving political opponents under the current federal administration.
“We know the president and federal administration have got no hesitation going after political enemies and investigating them in all sorts of ways,” he said during the hearing.
The failed vote effectively prevents the Minnesota House committee from compelling Omar’s testimony or documents before the legislative session ends later this month. Nevertheless, Robbins signaled that Republicans are exploring alternative avenues to continue the pursuit.
“They’re fading,” Robbins said. “But I’ll certainly talk to our friends in Congress to see if they would be willing to issue a subpoena.”
Robbins noted that federal authorities retain “a whole menu of legal options” because Omar is a sitting member of Congress. The controversy unfolds amid broader Republican efforts at both state and national levels to highlight waste, fraud, and inadequate oversight in federal spending programs enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
