BREAKING: Trump joins wife Melania in calling on ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel
Trump demands ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel ‘immediately’ after ‘expectant widow’ quip about Melania
President Trump called on ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel on Monday after the comedian referred to Melania Trump as “an expectant widow” two days before Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social, echoing a call made by the first lady earlier in the day.
“Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking. He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be,” the president noted.
One of Washington, DC’s social events of the year, the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner received outsize attention due to the president and first lady attending for the first time since they entered the White House.
Kimmel mocked the event on his show Thursday night, giving his own speech in which he said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Melania Trump savagely criticized the late-night host earlier Monday, calling him a “coward” who “hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him.”
“Enough is enough,” the first lady added on X. “It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community?”
The Trump administration launched an all-out assault on Kimmel and also went after Democratic lawmakers who were critical of the president, saying their rhetoric led to incidents like the one that took place Saturday night.
“Who, in their right mind, says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday. “And having experienced what I did with the first lady on Saturday night, I can tell you that she was anything but.”
Leavitt, who is nine months pregnant, was seated at the head table at Saturday night’s dinner, next to the first lady.
Both women had to crawl off stage as security escorted them — and the president — to safety.
Kimmel is facing severe backlash after Saturday’s attack on the gala dinner, in which a Secret Service agent suffered minor injuries after a gunman charged a checkpoint in a bid to kill President Trump and others in his administration.
Cole Allen, 31, was detained by authorities and was arraigned on multiple federal charges Monday afternoon in the DC federal court.
Monday marked the second time Trump has called for the comedian’s firing. The first was in September 2025, when Kimmel was taken off the air for a week following backlash from affiliates in the wake of his comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination.
The week-long suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” prompted widespread boycotts of Disney, with liberals accusing it of violating the First Amendment.
Kimmel failed to apologize upon his return to the air Sept. 23, but said: “It was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
But President Trump fumed about ABC’s decision to give him his show back.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” he wrote in a Truth Social post at the time.
“The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there.”
Harris Faulkner Storms Off Set After Greg Gutfeld Insult
Harris Faulkner Storms Off Set Following Searing Greg Gutfeld Insult as Fox News Plunges into Emergency Static
NEW YORK — Studio F at Fox News headquarters in Midtown Manhattan was thrown into utter chaos on Friday afternoon when veteran journalist and anchor Harris Faulkner walked off the set mid-broadcast after an extraordinarily sharp, personal jab from co-host Greg Gutfeld, prompting Master Control to pull the emergency kill switch and plunge the network into prolonged screen static before millions of live viewers.
The stunning clash, which erupted during a high-stakes cross-over panel segment, stripped away the network's high-energy format and marked one of the most volatile confrontations between a flagship news anchor and an opinion host in cable news history.
The Collision: Hard News Meets Late-Night Sarcasm
The panel was scheduled as a special extended roundtable analyzing recent national security developments and constitutional debates, bringing together Faulkner—a six-time Emmy-winning news veteran—and the opinion-heavy regulars of The Five.
From the start of the block, the contrast in style proved combustible. As Faulkner methodically laid out a sourced breakdown of federal court filings and legal precedents, Gutfeld repeatedly cut in with derisive side remarks, muttering under his breath and making mock courtroom gavel gestures at the center camera.
Faulkner maintained her composure through two interruptions, firmly asking to finish her reporting. However, when Gutfeld abruptly cut across her microphone to deliver a biting, dismissive personal jab, the atmosphere in Studio F curdled instantly.
"Nobody tuned in for a robotic teleprompter lecture, Harris," Gutfeld sneered, leaning over his open briefing folder with a sharp smirk. "Leave the self-righteous sanctimony for daytime. You're at the big-kid table now, so stop acting like an anchor who only reads what she's fed."
The Stand and the Walkout: Studio F Paralyzed
The studio floor went completely dead.
Faulkner’s expression shifted from professional focus to pure, unflinching steel. She neatly capped her pen, aligned her briefing papers, and placed both hands firmly on the edge of the circular glass desk.
Looking directly across the table into Gutfeld’s eyes, her voice cut through the studio monitors with surgical precision:
"I have spent thirty years building an impeccable reputation in this industry based on facts, integrity, and relentless journalism. I will not sit at this desk and allow a late-night comedian to question my intellect, my work, or my dignity. Don't you ever dare disrespect me again."
Without waiting for a response, Faulkner pushed back her chair, stood up, and tore off her wireless lapel microphone, tossing the clip onto the center of the desk.
She turned her back to the robotic cameras and walked briskly past the frozen floor crew, heading straight through the heavy soundproof exit doors into the 1211 Avenue of the Americas corridor.
Panic in Master Control: The Emergency Static Feed
The walkout left the remaining panel—including Jesse Watters and Dana Perino—paralyzed in stunned silence:
The Frozen Table: Gutfeld’s smirk visibly faltered as he shifted in his seat, nervously looking off-camera for direction.
The Audio Meltdown: Hot studio microphones picked up chaotic shouting from the floor director: "She's out the door! What are we doing? Kill the desk mics right now!"
The Static Override: Instead of executing a clean transition to a commercial reel, a panicked operator in Executive Master Control hit an uncalibrated bypass switch.
At precisely 5:28 PM EST, the live studio picture vanished entirely, replaced by a harsh blast of black-and-white visual static and a deafening 1,000-Hz test tone that blared across television screens nationwide for nine agonizing seconds.
Technicians frantically restored automated continuity, dumping the feed into an unscheduled six-minute emergency block of syndicated promos and local advertisements.
Backstage Crisis and a Rushed Newsroom Reset
Behind the scenes at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, senior management moved swiftly to contain the operational disaster:
Executive Intervention: High-ranking network executives rushed from the upper corporate floors to intercept Faulkner in the executive dressing suite, while separate personnel entered Studio F to demand decorum from the remaining hosts.
Studio Abandoned: When programming resumed after the extended commercial break, Studio F was dark. The network bypassed the remainder of the panel, routing viewers to a regional newsroom anchor desk where a flustered correspondent delivered generic business headlines to run out the hour.
Internal Inquiry: Master Control transmission logs and unedited studio audio feeds were immediately subpoenaed by corporate human resources to review the altercation.
Viral Outrage and Public Reaction
Within minutes of the broadcast cutting to static, DVR captures of Faulkner's scathing rebuke and walkout flooded social media, amassing tens of millions of views across X, TikTok, and YouTube under the trending hashtags #StandWithHarris, #FaulknerWalkout, and #GutfeldCrossesLine.
Viewers and media commentators from across the industry overwhelmingly commended Faulkner’s composure and refusal to tolerate public disrespect, while leveling intense criticism at the erosion of professional standards on live cable roundtables.
While Fox News Media corporate communications has declined to release an on-the-record disciplinary statement, the dramatic walkout and transmission failure leaves the network navigating a severe internal rift between its news division and its opinion heavyweights.
