US President Donald Trump on Monday called for ABC to fire late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel, after he jokingly referred to First Lady Melania Trump as a "likely widow" during a sketch at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Melania Trump had earlier hinted that Kimmel should be fired due to his remarks. Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social, "Jimmy Kimmel should be fired by Disney and ABC immediately." He described the joke as "a disgusting and violence-promoting statement."

Kimmel made the comment on his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Thursday, just days before the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where an armed individual opened fire, prompting the swift removal of President Trump, Melania, and other senior officials for safety. Kimmel had joked, "The first lady is so radiant, she looks like a likely widow." Melania Trump said in an X post on Monday morning that Kimmel's monologue was "not comedy, but poison" and was fueling political sickness in America. She added that such individuals should not be given the opportunity to spread hate in our homes every night and accused ABC of supporting Kimmel, calling for the network to take action against him.

Donald Trump also stated that Jimmy Kimmel's remarks about Melania Trump were highly disturbing and shameful, coming after the shooting incident, in which an armed individual with malicious intent entered the White House dinner event. The public is outraged over Kimmel's comments. The US President demanded that Disney and ABC Network fire Jimmy Kimmel from his job immediately. This controversy has become a major test of freedom of expression for ABC's parent company, Disney. Kimmel had previously made jokes about President Trump, including one about an event at the White House and Trump's social media posts, which were later deleted.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt described Kimmel's remarks as "deeply unbalanced" and said such statements could encourage people to violence. This controversy is also seen as the first major test for Disney's new CEO, Josh D'Amaro.