A fresh chapter has opened in the escalating clash between former President Donald Trump and late-night political comedy, after the U.S. federal agency overseeing national broadcast regulations launched an expedited review of ABC’s operating license this week. The move from the Federal Communications Commission targets ABC’s parent company The Walt Disney Company and all of its broadcast television subsidiaries, and comes in direct response to public demands from both Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump for the network to sever ties with long-running late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
The controversy ignited last month, when Kimmel delivered a satirical bit during his show pretending to serve as emcee for the 2025 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an annual high-profile media event held in Washington D.C. Directing a playful jab at the former first couple’s 24-year age gap, Kimmel joked, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” Donald Trump, who will turn 80 this June and holds the distinction of being the oldest person ever to serve as U.S. president, called for Kimmel’s immediate termination over the quip, which he and his team have framed as a thinly veiled incitement to violence.
The former president’s claims have gained new traction after a man was arrested last Saturday on charges of attempting to assassinate Trump at a campaign event just days after Kimmel delivered the joke. Melania Trump, 56, the Slovenia-born former first lady, released a public statement doubling down on the call for action, urging ABC leadership to “take a stand” against the comedian and distance the network from his commentary.
Kimmel pushed back against the criticism during his show’s Monday broadcast, dismissing the accusations of inciting violence as a blatant misinterpretation. He clarified that the line was nothing more than a lighthearted “roast joke” centered entirely on the former couple’s well-documented age difference, noting that “it was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination, and they know that.”
The White House, however, reaffirmed the administration’s opposition to Kimmel on Tuesday. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung took to social platform X to unleash a harsh personal attack, calling Kimmel a “shit human” for refusing to issue an apology and instead defending his original joke publicly.
This is not the first time Kimmel, one of the most politically vocal late-night hosts in modern U.S. media, has found himself at the center of a national debate over the boundaries of First Amendment protected free speech. Last September, the comedian was briefly suspended from his show after facing intense pressure from the Trump administration over comments he made claiming Trump’s hard-line MAGA movement was attempting to exploit the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk for political gain.
Media freedom advocates have raised alarm over the FCC’s decision to launch an expedited license review, noting that the move marks an unusual instance of executive pressure influencing regulatory action against a critical media voice, and has sparked renewed conversation about the intersection of political power, comedy, and free expression in modern American politics.