**President Donald Trump Criticizes ABC Ahead of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Return**
President Donald Trump lashed out at ABC on Tuesday night ahead of the return of *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*, suggesting he plans to go after the network once again.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his talent was never there,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He added, “Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny and who puts the network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
Trump continued, “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings.”
The social media post came within the hour of the Tuesday night return of *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* after Disney decided to end the show’s indefinite suspension after six days on Monday.
Last Wednesday, Disney made the decision to suspend production on the show “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.” In a statement, the Walt Disney Company said, “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” the statement added.
Trump had initially celebrated Kimmel’s suspension after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened Disney, the “House of Mouse,” implying that Disney could handle their licenses “the easy way or the hard way.”
On the day of the suspension, Trump wrote, “Great news for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
During a press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump doubled down: “Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk, and Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. So, you know, you can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”
Later that day, while on Air Force One, Trump expressed frustration with media coverage, saying, “When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do. If you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years or something. When you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”
However, some conservative pundits and commentators were less enthusiastic about Trump’s remarks. Prominent figures such as Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Senator Ted Cruz suggested the president’s approach bordered on authoritarian overreach.
In response to these tensions, on Monday, 400 celebrities—including Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Pedro Pascal, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep—signed an open letter through the ACLU warning of the dangers of encroaching on America’s freedom of speech.
Despite the show’s return, local affiliate owners Nexstar and Sinclair decided to preempt Tuesday’s new episode across their stations, continuing their blockage of *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*
*Jimmy Kimmel Live!* officially returned to ABC on Tuesday night, marking the end of a brief but highly publicized suspension period.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trump-says-going-test-abc-025722545.html