Jimmy Kimmel returned from his winter break on Monday, using his first monologue of 2026 to target Donald Trump over the ratings of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast, which the president hosted in December.
“After boasting about what a great host he is and how much better he is than I am and how huge his ratings would be, Trump hosted the lowest rated Kennedy Center Honors telecast of all time,” Kimmel said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
The Dec. 7 ceremony averaged 3.01 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, a 25% drop from 2024’s record low of 4.1 million. Trump was the first sitting president to host the event, which honoured George Strait, Sylvester Stallone, KISS, Michael Crawford and Gloria Gaynor.
Kimmel joked that Trump had previously said he would step down if he could not beat the talk show host in ratings, quipping: “Hey, a deal is a deal. Back to Mar-a-Lago you go.”
During his second term, Trump has developed a fixation on the Kennedy Center, renaming it in December to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts”. The move sparked a backlash, with several acts cancelling performances.
