Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back After Trump Calls Him a ‘Ratings-Starved Hack’

Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night on Monday (February 23) following a one-week hiatus for the Winter Olympics, and he had a lot to catch up on, including fresh jabs directed at him by President Donald Trump.

“We’re back to work after a week off. I got to tell you something, I can’t even enjoy being off anymore. What it is… I can’t stop watching the news and Trump does so much stuff,” the host said at the top of his opening monologue on Monday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

He continued, “I feel like when we’re off, it’s like I’m on vacation somewhere watching my house on a Ring cam and an alligator walks in and there’s nothing you can do but watch it and then just try to assess the damage when you get back.”

After detailing various Trump-related news stories he missed over the week, including the president’s battles with the Supreme Court, Iran, and Netflix, Kimmel turned his attention to the story that impacted him directly.

“Over the break, a fundraising email from one of his many money grabs was sent to a number of followers,” Kimmel shared. “The subject line was ‘DJT: Get Trump Out Of Your Mouth,’ which again, somehow not a line from the Trump-Epstein files.”

He then read part of the email, which said, “Hey, Did you see it? Ratings-starved hack Jimmy Kimmel is back at it again.”

Kimmel retorted, “For the record, I was in my house doing nothing.”

He continued reading the email, which referred to the ABC talk show as a “failing late-night show” with “terrible, total disaster numbers.”

“The poor guy just LOVES to have my name in his mouth because he knows that without Trump, HE’D HAVE NO CAREER AT ALL!” the message went on. “He thinks he can sit in his Hollywood studio and laugh at the greatest political movement in the history of our country.”

Kimmel quipped, “Yeah, he does. Sometimes I stand, sometimes I sit and laugh.”

The Trump email added, “While he’s busy reading a teleprompter for a tiny audience of coastal elites, I’m getting ready to address a massive crowd of MAGA PATRIOTS at the State of the Union.”

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“Oh, by the way, we will have a special show tomorrow night to laugh at all the stupid things he says at that MAGA State of the Union,” Kimmel noted.

The email concluded by urging people to sign up for Trump’s “MAGA Rally Blitz,” which Kimmel called “tempting.”

“What even is that? It’s like something you order at Dairy Queen, right?” he joked. “But please, give until his feelings don’t hurt anymore, folks. Why is a president in his second term even sending fundraising emails? I don’t know, maybe he needs it to pay all the Big Beautiful tariffs he has to give back now?”

You can watch Kimmel’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.