Jimmy Kimmel Gives Donald Trump a ‘Richly Deserved Bollocking’ in Scorching Christmas Day Message: ‘The President Lost’

Jimmy Kimmel had a pointed message for Donald Trump this holiday season.

For Channel 4’s 2025 annual “Alternative Christmas Message,” the British broadcaster tapped Kimmel, 58, as this year’s speaker — and the late-night host used the platform to caution viewers that “tyranny is booming” in the United States.

Kimmel addressed ABC’s decision to place Jimmy Kimmel Live! on an indefinite hiatus on Wednesday, Sept. 17, following his remarks about Charlie Kirk. He claimed the situation escalated because Trump “would like to shut me up because I don’t adore him in the way he likes to be adored.”

“The American government made a threat against me and the company I work for, and all of a sudden we were off the air,” Kimmel said.

Calling the show’s Sept. 23 return “a September Christmas miracle,” Kimmel credited the “millions and millions of people” who spoke out, arguing the move to pull the show crossed a line.

“People who never watched my show, people who were on record saying they hate my show spoke out, they marched, they did this all to support the right to a free expression of speech,” he said. “And because so many people spoke out, we came back. Our show came back stronger than ever.”

He added that the reversal felt like a clear win: “We won, the President lost and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking.”

Kimmel said he shared the story as a warning that government pressure and censorship aren’t confined to places Americans typically point to, like North Korea. “That’s what we thought, and now we’ve got King Donny the Eighth calling for executions,” he joked. “It happens fast.”

Quipping that Americans “have nothing against [England’s] king, just a problem with the guy who thinks he’s our king,” Kimmel argued the U.S. is “figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy.”

He pointed to what he described as damage across multiple institutions. “From the free press, to science, to medicine, to judicial independence, to the actual White House itself, we are a right mess,” he said, adding that the situation is spilling beyond U.S. borders. “And we know this is also affecting you, and I just wanted to say sorry.”

Kimmel also tried to draw a line between Americans and their leadership, telling viewers, “We’re not all like him. We’re not all like that.”

Nodding to Hamilton, Kimmel acknowledged the U.S. and England “didn’t start off on the greatest note,” but said pop culture touchstones — including Love Actually — remind him the relationship remains “special.”

He urged British viewers not to write America off. “We’re going through a bit of a wobble right now, but we’ll come around,” he said. “It may not seem like it, but we love you guys. We even love the things about you that you don’t like, like Simon Cowell, for instance.”

Kimmel closed by suggesting the country needs time to stabilize, saying America needs “about three years” to work through its challenges — and he ended with thanks and holiday wishes: “Thank you for Spider-Man. Merry Christmas, and happy holidays.”