Trump Calls for Kimmel’s Firing, FCC Moves Toward ABC License Review After Melania “Expectant Widow” Joke

The FCC is preparing a formal review of Disney’s eight owned ABC broadcast licenses following Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump, according to a Semafor report published this morning. The review would be the latest escalation in a running conflict between the Trump administration and ABC that now involves the president, the first lady, and the federal regulator that controls whether Disney can operate broadcast television stations.

The joke aired April 23 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! during a mock White House Correspondents’ Dinner segment. Kimmel used deepfake footage of Melania and Barron Trump appearing to sit in his studio as an audience. He then said: “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” Two days later, on April 25, Cole Tomas Allen of California was apprehended outside the real WHCD ballroom carrying a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president.

Trump posted a full statement on Truth Social Monday: “Wow, Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking. He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be. He then stated, ‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.’ A day later, a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason. I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

Melania Trump posted separately on X hours before her husband: “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”

Kimmel responded Monday night on his show: “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that.” He added: “I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular. But I understand that the First Lady had a stressful experience over the weekend. And probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house. And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do. And I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, has threatened ABC’s broadcast licenses before. In September 2025, following Kimmel’s on-air comments after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Carr told ABC and its affiliates: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Earlier this month, Carr suggested ABC could lose its licenses over Disney’s DEI programs, saying the company’s conduct “could fundamentally go to their character qualifications to even hold a license.”

The lone Democratic FCC commissioner, Anna Gomez, called the latest move “unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere,” adding that “the First Amendment is on their side” and that companies should challenge it directly.

Any FCC action against ABC would take months or years to work through regulatory proceedings and would face First Amendment challenges in court. The FCC has not revoked a major network’s broadcast license over speech content in its history. Carr’s threats have functioned primarily as public pressure campaigns rather than regulatory actions.

Disney and ABC have not commented. Kimmel’s show continues to air.

Does the FCC’s move against ABC over a late-night comedy joke cross a line, or is ABC’s protection of Kimmel over years of inflammatory content the real story here?

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