{"id":491671,"date":"2026-02-20T04:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/491671\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:47:13","slug":"trumps-midnight-rant-at-late-night-host-ends-in-cash-grab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/491671\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Midnight Rant at Late-Night Host Ends in Cash Grab"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump couldn\u2019t let Jimmy Kimmel have the last laugh.<\/p>\n

Just after midnight on Thursday, the president unloaded on the late-night host in a rambling email to supporters\u2014before turning a personal grudge into a full-blown fundraising pitch. The subject line: \u201cGet Trump out of your mouth!\u201d<\/p>\n

The message<\/a>, sent to his \u201cMAGA Blitz\u201d list, quickly devolved into a familiar tirade\u2014this time aimed squarely at late-night TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you see it?\u201d Trump, 79, opened, referencing Kimmel\u2019s show before launching into a string of insults. He branded the host a \u201cratings-starved hack\u201d and mocked what he claimed were \u201cterrible numbers, just total disaster numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump issued an attack on Jimmy Kimmel to his <\/p>\n

But the email wasn\u2019t just about Kimmel\u2014it was about rallying Trump\u2019s base. After tearing into the comedian, Trump pivoted to his supporters, warning that Kimmel\u2019s show was \u201ctrying to mock you and our movement.\u201d The email insisted the host\u2019s relevance depends entirely on him: \u201cWithout Trump, HE\u2019D HAVE NO CAREER AT ALL!\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump swiftly pivoted his message with a call to action. \u201cI want to send a message so loud it shakes the foundations of Hollywood,\u201d he wrote, urging \u201cmillions of MAGA patriots\u201d to step up and prove the movement\u2019s strength. The pitch ended with a fundraising hook, offering access to an \u201cexclusive\u201d 2026 MAGA membership for those who joined the effort.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump ended his email to his supporters with a call to action against Jimmy Kimmel. \/ Archive of Political Emails<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s fixation on Kimmel is nothing new. The ABC host has spent months hammering the president on-air, including a fiery segment where he called<\/a> Trump out over comments about two U.S. citizens killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month. After Trump dismissed the victims as no \u201cangels,\u201d Kimmel unloaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow dare you weigh in on what they were and what they weren\u2019t?\u201d he said, before telling the president to \u201ckeep your stupid thoughts in your diaper where they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump was pressed over free speech on September 18, 2025, one day after Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended following a threat from the president’s FCC chair. \/ Leon Neal\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The monologue didn\u2019t stop there. Kimmel went on to mock Trump\u2019s intelligence, saying his brain is \u201csmaller than one of an Oompa Loompa\u2019s balls.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued his digs, dragging Trump over his past ties to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. A January tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice features Trump\u2019s name over 5,300 times.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeffrey Epstein was your best friend,\u201d Kimmel said in the episode. \u201cSo maybe leave angels out of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The escalating back-and-forth highlights a long-running feud between Trump and late-night television\u2014a relationship that has only grown more hostile during his second term.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/p>\n

Jimmy Kimmel on an episode of his late-night show, <\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly lashed out at comedians who criticize him, hinting previously that Kimmel could be \u201cnext\u201d after other late-night shakeups, including CBS\u2019s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n

After making controversial comments following the death of conservative figure Charlie Kirk, Kimmel\u2019s show was temporarily pulled amid backlash fueled by outrage among Trump allies. Trump seized on the moment, saying, <\/a>Kimmel \u201cshould have been fired a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/p>\n

Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kimmel holding shirt that reads <\/p>\n

Even as Trump mobilizes his base against the late-night host, Kimmel is leaning further into the fight. The host is set to headline<\/a> a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this week.<\/p>\n

The Daily Beast has reached out to Kimmel\u2019s representatives at ABC for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump couldn\u2019t let Jimmy Kimmel have the last laugh. Just after midnight on Thursday, the president unloaded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,2490,134,4625,427],"class_list":["post-491671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-donald-trump","tag-entertainment","tag-jimmy-kimmel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}