Days after calling for comedian Jimmy Kimmel to lose his job over a joke about the age gap between President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, the president himself used the same subject as fodder for a quip while welcoming King Charles III to the White House on Tuesday.
Awkward Moment at Arrival Ceremony
Trump was working through meandering remarks at the end of a formal arrival ceremony on the South Lawn when he shifted from reflecting on the deep friendship between the U.S. and U.K. over the 250 years since American independence to his Scottish-born mother Mary McLeod Trump's admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
As Trump noted how his mother had emigrated from Scotland at age 19 and entered into a 63-year marriage with his father, he turned to the First Lady, seated with Queen Camilla behind him. "That's a record we won't be able to match, darling," he said. "I'm sorry, it's just not going to work out that way. We'll do well, but we're not going to do that well."
The president, who turns 80 this June and is the oldest person to serve as America's chief executive, was clearly referring to the 24-year age gap between him and his 56-year-old wife. The couple met in 1998, when she was a 28-year-old fashion model and he was a 52-year-old real estate executive and media figure.
Kimmel Controversy Escalates
Trump's lighthearted jab at his wife's relative youth came a day after he demanded that ABC "immediately fire" Kimmel, the longtime host of his late-night program, for a joke delivered during a mock roast aired on Thursday. Kimmel's roast included a description of Melania as having "a glow like an expectant widow" in an apparent reference to the president's age.
After a gunman attempted to storm a Saturday evening charity fundraiser at the Washington Hilton, both the president and first lady falsely recast Kimmel's comments as advocating for the president's assassination.
On Monday, Melania Trump took to X with a statement accusing Kimmel of using "hateful and violent rhetoric" and calling him a "coward" who "hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him." She did not explicitly demand Kimmel be sacked but called on the network to "take a stand."
Her husband went further on Truth Social hours later, accusing Kimmel of essentially calling for his death. "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" he added.
Unlike a similar blow-up involving Kimmel last September after the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk, the network aired Kimmel's program as usual on Monday, bucking the president's demand.
In response, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr appears ready to punish the Disney-owned television network by ordering it to participate in an early review of broadcast licenses for stations it owns in several major markets, including New York City and Chicago.
