In a poignant and defiant final monologue of 2025, Jimmy Kimmel delivered an emotional reflection on a year of profound personal and national turmoil, directly challenging the political climate under President Donald Trump's second term.
Kimmel's Personal and Professional Trials
The ABC host opened by acknowledging a strange and hard year, marked by extreme lows and highs. He referenced his show's brief suspension under pressure from the Trump administration, an act that sparked a national outcry over censorship. The year also brought the personal tragedy of the death of his childhood friend and longtime band leader, Cleto Escobedo.
Despite fearing his show was gone forever, Kimmel revealed he ultimately signed a one-year contract extension with ABC. He thanked his audience profusely, stating, "You literally pulled us out of a hole" with their support.
Kimmel expressed the existential difficulty of his role in the current climate, saying the job of making sense of national events often feels like "spinning our wheels." He questioned foundational American ideals, lamenting, "You don't know what the American way even is any more." However, he found solace in viewers who said the show made them feel less crazy, a sentiment he shared.
A Scathing Rebuttal to Trump's Prime-Time Address
The monologue then turned to President Trump's combative, year-end prime-time address, which major networks were requested to air. Kimmel characterised the 18-minute speech as "18 straight minutes of him yelling," cruelly comparing the experience for the nation to "what it was like to be Eric in the eighth grade."
He declared the president's message insane and riddled with falsehoods, joking that "Eleven factcheckers died watching that speech." Kimmel concluded this segment with a plea to international audiences, asserting, "There is still much more good in this country than bad, and we hope that you will bear with us during this extended psychotic episode that we're in the middle of."
Late-Night Colleagues Echo the Critique
Kimmel was not alone in his analysis. On Late Night, Seth Meyers also dissected Trump's address, where the president claimed America was now "the hottest country anywhere in the world" after being "dead" a year prior. Meyers mocked the assertion, comparing it to a dubious nightclub flyer, and criticised Trump for scolding struggling Americans instead of offering empathy or solutions.
Stephen Colbert on The Late Show opened by quipping that the nation would remember where they were when they "did not watch" the speech. He mocked the White House's request for major network airtime, suggesting the declared "national emergency" was merely low poll numbers. Colbert impersonated Trump, highlighting the speech's focus on familiar themes like transphobia and crime, and sarcastically thanked him for allowing Americans to say the word "that" again.
The unified response from these prominent late-night figures underscores a deep cultural and political rift in the United States as 2025 closes. Their commentaries framed the year as one of institutional stress, personal resilience, and a ongoing battle over the nation's narrative and truth.
