Jimmy Kimmel used his late-night show to criticize President Donald Trump‘s recent post on Truth Social. Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself holding a gun, which he meant as a threat to Iran. Kimmel called the post strange and made fun of it, saying Trump looked like he was “cosplaying as fat John Wick.” The host wondered if the image was actually supposed to scare anyone.
Trump posted the image just after 4 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The picture showed him in a dark suit and sunglasses, holding a gun, with explosions in the background. Along with the image, Trump wrote, “Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!”
According to Mediaite, Kimmel pointed out that Trump posted this at 4:05 a.m., suggesting he was awake in the middle of the night. “So much for toning down the rhetoric, I guess!” Kimmel said. He joked that someone should give Trump a phone that locks him out between midnight and six in the morning, like the pouches used at concerts to keep people off their phones.
The bizarre threat probably won’t scare Iran the way Trump thinks it will
The main question Kimmel asked was whether Trump really believed this image would scare the Iranian people. Kimmel didn’t think so at all. “Is this supposed to scare them?” he asked again. He said the best thing Iran might think is, “Ok, you know what? The old man has lost his marbles. He can’t sleep. He’s cosplaying as fat John Wick. I think we need to call his kids to make sure he’s okay.”
Kimmel also described the image as a “horror show” that made Trump look like a mix of Rambo and Dumbo. He mentioned that eight weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the conflict had already lasted longer than the White House had first predicted. While early attacks damaged Iranian leadership targets, Tehran still controls the Strait of Hormuz, blocking about a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
This criticism came just days after Trump demanded that Kimmel be fired. According to USA Today, Trump was angry about a joke Kimmel made about Melania Trump having the look of an “expectant widow.” Many people made fun of Trump’s demand, pointing out that he made a similar joke about his own death shortly after. Kimmel later took time to explain what his joke actually meant to those who misunderstood it.
Trump posted on Truth Social, saying, “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.” Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, also criticized Kimmel. He said Kimmel was “making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President” and should apologize instead of defending the joke.
But Kimmel refused to apologize and accused the Trump administration of being hypocritical. “Wait a minute. Did he just make a joke about his death?” Kimmel asked. “He should be fired for that! Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age, and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age!”
Kimmel stood by his original joke and said critics were purposely misunderstanding what he meant. Disney, led by new CEO Josh D’Amaro, appeared to support Kimmel from the beginning, allowing him to return to his show on April 27 to defend himself. Despite Trump’s public demands, ABC went ahead and aired Kimmel’s show as usual, which surprised many observers.
Published: May 1, 2026 10:32 am