Why Jimmy Kimmel ‘Would Love’ To Have Donald Trump On His Show After Suspension

In a shocking turn of events, Jimmy Kimmel^[1] has revealed that he is open to having his longtime rival, President Donald Trump^[2], on his show. 

The television host has been at loggerheads with the president for years. The latter even publicly rejoiced when the former’s show was briefly pulled from airwaves following a controversial remark he made about the late Charlie Kirk^[3]. 

However, soon after the suspension, Kimmel’s show was reinstated to the blatant displeasure of Trump, who embarked on a long rant threatening to sue ABC for bringing his rival back. 

During an appearance on “Bloomberg Screentime^[4],” Kimmel was asked if he had invited the FCC chief, Brendan Carr, or President Trump to feature in his show, both of whom have publicly opposed his statements. 

The late-night host noted that while he isn’t necessarily interested in inviting Carr, he is open to having Trump as a guest. 

“I’d love to have Trump on the show, for sure… I feel like he knows that. Alright, yeah, I’ll ask him,” he said, laughing. 

The audience also joined in the laughter, applauding his response.  Although Kimmel has expressed interest in having Trump as a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, the president may not be as receptive to the idea. 

Page Six^[5] reached out to White House rep Abigail Jackson, asking for a response to Kimmel’s statements.

“Reacting to anything Jimmy Kimmel says would require me to watch his show, and I have much more entertaining things to do, like watch paint dry,” she declared.

Kimmel’s statement about inviting Trump to his show comes over two weeks after he returned to the airwaves. 

During his comeback episode, the comedian emotionally acknowledged that his statement about Kirk, which got his show pulled, was not intended to “make light of the murder of a young man” in any way. 

Taking a dig at the president, Kimmel condemned his agenda against comedians. 

“A government threat to silence a comedian the government doesn’t like is anti-American,” he declared.

Following Kimmel’s comeback episode, Trump embarked on a lengthy social media rant, writing that he couldn’t believe “ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.” 

As The Blast^[6] reported, he questioned why ABC would reinstate Kimmel, saying, “Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.” 

He also hinted at possibly taking legal action against ABC, boasting that the last time he went after them, he won $16 million. 

As expected, Trump’s threats to sue ABC did not go over Kimmel’s head. 

In the next installment of his show, the 57-year-old comedian addressed the president’s lengthy rant, saying, “You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe we gave you your job back! We’re even.”

As The Blast^[7] reported, he also pointed out that Trump had threatened the network despite claiming that his statements were not threats.

Kimmel then stated that he feels sorry for people who work close to the president because they always have to clean up his “messes.”

Many viewers initially seemed to agree with Kimmel’s digs at Trump, as his show saw a huge surge in viewership after he returned from suspension. 

However, the surge was only short-lived, and the numbers saw a 71% crash after the surge, as reported by The Blast^[8].

Kimmel’s comeback episode aired on September 23. It was watched by 6.5 million viewers, the highest the show has ever recorded. However, by October, that number dropped significantly to 1.9 million, a sharp contrast from the numbers recorded in the comeback episode. 

1.7 million viewers who watched Kimmel’s comeback episode fell within the 25-54 demographic. However, this number saw a particularly sharp decline, falling to 265,000 viewers. 

Notably, the show averaged 1.6 million viewers in 2025 before its suspension. 

For now, the reason for the sharp decline in Kimmel’s viewership numbers is unclear. However, the possibility remains that the initial spike may have been due to curious people eager to see what the TV host would say upon his return to the airwaves.