One late-night host had every reason to keep his head down this week. Instead, he went right back at his most familiar enemy: Donald Trump.
The president lashed out after a comedian took aim at first lady Melania and his handling of the Iran War.
The latest joke clearly struck a nerve, and Trump made it clear he wasn’t happy about it.
Trump hit Clarksville, Tennessee, on Oct. 10 for a midterm rally, then took a detour into his latest gripe with Jimmy Kimmel.
In a recent episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Kimmel predicted Trump’s meltdown over losing the Nobel Peace Prize award.
Kimmel’s Oct. 8 episode features a supercut of Trump griping about being passed over. He said Trump expecting a peace prize after launching a war says everything about his mindset.
But the Nobel was only the warm-up.
Days earlier, at a San Antonio, Texas rally for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, Trump again went after Paxton’s Democratic opponent, James Talarico, falsely labeling him a vegan.
On the campaign trail, Trump had been pronouncing the word vegan as “vay-gun.” This time he got it right.
He gave Melania Trump the credit, claiming she told him, “Sir, do me a favor … It’s not ‘vay-gun,’ it’s ‘vegan.’” Moments later, he slipped and referred to the person correcting him as “he.”
Kimmel paused the footage. He said Trump would love for the world to believe his wife calls him “sir,” then landed the real blow: “I don’t even believe Melania calls you.”
Trump disregarded Kimmel’s remarks on Melania and his mispronunciation of the word “vegan” during his speech. He went straight for claims about the crowd size.
“They will show those chairs and they will say few people. They won’t show the 5,000, 8,000 that couldn’t get in. See those chairs? They’re right behind the camera,” he told the Clarksville crowd.
He said he wanted to move the cameras behind the chairs, accusing the media of focusing on empty seats to make his rallies look poorly attended.
“This loser Jimmy Kimmel,” Trump added before seemingly confirming he watches his enemy’s show. “I see that. What a loser.”
He insists the San Antonio, TX, rally drew a “packed” crowd. He then appeared unsure of the location, saying, “I had just left Texas or something. The place is packed. Or maybe it was Ohio.”
The POTUS also blamed Kimmel for highlighting that media outlets called the Texas rally “sparsely attended.”
“I said sparsely attended. They had to walk thousands of people. They couldn’t get into the— These guys are crooked people. They’re losers. They’re crooked people. And we have to understand it,” Trump concluded before moving on.
The jabs land at a precarious moment for the talk show host. On Oct. 7, Page Six published a report in which unnamed sources painted Kimmel as a difficult partner at Disney, ABC’s parent company.
A source described him as “unmanageable,” someone who rarely pops up on network shows and who roasted company executives at the May upfronts.
Other insiders cited his ABC-connected guests and multiple Oscar hosting gigs. But one source said Kimmel cooperated after last year’s Trump backlash got him pulled off air.
His contract expires in May 2027, and the outlet reported in September that ABC reportedly won’t renew it. ABC called that claim inaccurate and speculative.
Viewers, for their part, were too busy laughing to worry. “Oh Jimmy ~ you are so funny,” one person wrote after the clip hit X. Another said, “The main thing is that he STILL watches Jimmy Kimmel!”
Referring to Trump’s location mix-up, one concerned person asked, “Does he even know where he’s at?”
Another said, “Nobody whines more than Trump does.”
As for the Nobel, Kimmel’s prediction held up, at least the part that mattered. Trump came up empty again on Friday.
The committee awarded the 2026 prize to former U.N. human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navi Pillay, whom it praised for her independence and her decades of work strengthening international law.
Trump soon reshared a Truth Social post blasting the committee’s choice.
Kimmel, meanwhile, has made the Trumps’ marriage a running punchline for months.
In May, he refused to back down after Trump’s warnings and fired off another Melania jab, not long after a brutal joke about the first lady nearly cost him everything.
He’s also stayed locked on the Talarico race. ABC’s decision to post his interview with the Texas Democrat online rather than air it drew scrutiny from Trump’s FCC chief in September.
His feud with the administration has already knocked him off the air once.
Disney suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for nearly a week in September 2025 over his remarks following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Whether Disney keeps him past next spring is anyone’s guess. But if Thursday proved anything, it’s that Kimmel has no plans to go quietly.
Trump: This loser Jimmy Kimmel. I had just left Texas or someplace. The place is packed—maybe it was Ohio. “Donald Trump had a sparsely attended—“ https://t.co/fKw5sSVzE5
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 10, 2026
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