Jimmy Kimmel Goes Live After a Super Long State of the Union
#Jimmy Kimmel#State of the Union#Donald Trump#Late Night Shows#Political Commentary#Speech Analysis#Comedy#Media Reaction
📌 Key Takeaways
Kimmel started his show before Trump finished the State of the Union due to its extreme length
Kimmel criticized the speech as 'angry' with the theme 'all foreigners are murderers'
Kimmel mocked Trump's claims about immigration, DEI, and food stamp policies
Other late night hosts including Fallon and Meyers joined in joking about the speech's length
Kimmel questioned whether the two-hour address was still a speech or had become a 'conniption fit'
📖 Full Retelling
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel went live with his show on February 25, 2026, shortly after President Trump delivered an exceptionally long State of the Union address, forcing Kimmel to begin his response before the president had finished speaking. Kimmel opened his monologue with a joke about the speech's length, saying, 'I can't believe America missed an all-new 'Will Trent' for this one,' referring to the ABC drama that aired opposite the address. The host described the speech as 'angry' and summed up its theme as 'all foreigners are murderers,' mocking Trump's claims that zero illegal aliens had been allowed into the United States during his term. Kimmel also took aim at specific policy announcements, noting that Trump 'bragged about ending D.E.I., he bragged about kicking two million people off food stamps,' calling it 'like a Christmas message from the Grinch.' The late-night host pointed out the irony of Trump applauding a World War II veteran who liberated an internment camp while simultaneously building new ones in the United States, and questioned whether the rambling two-hour address should still be considered a speech or had devolved into 'a conniption fit.' Other late-night hosts joined in the humor about the speech's excessive length, with Jimmy Fallon noting Trump focused on his accomplishments for 'eight seconds' before 'riffing for an hour and a half,' and Seth Meyers quipping that Trump is 'incapable of being brief' even when reading a haiku.
🏷️ Themes
Late Night Television, Political Satire, Current Events
Annual report by the president of the United States
The State of the Union address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of most calendar years on the current condition of the nation. The speech generally includes reports...
James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host and comedian. He is best known as the host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which has aired on ABC since 2003. Kimmel has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2020, and the Academy ...
President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
Born into a wealthy New York City family, Trump graduated from the...
Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Late Night ROUNDUP Jimmy Kimmel Goes Live After a Super Long State of the Union “I can’t believe America missed an all-new ‘Will Trent’ for this one,” he joked. Share full article By Trish Bendix Feb. 25, 2026, 1:48 a.m. ET Welcome to Late Night Roundup, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now . State of the Union (Extended Version) President Trump’s State of the Union address went so long on Tuesday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live” had to start shooting the host’s response before the president had finished. “We said, ‘He’s probably still going, right?’” Jimmy Kimmel said. “Which is a problem, because Mike Johnson’s bedtime is 9 o’clock sharp.” “What a speech it wasn’t, huh? I can’t believe America missed an all-new ‘Will Trent’ for this one.” — JIMMY KIMMEL Kimmel called the president’s speech “angry,” and summed up its theme as “all foreigners are murderers.” “He said zero illegal aliens have been allowed into the United States on his watch, but the door is always open to those who come in legally to be his next wife.” — JIMMY KIMMEL “He bragged about ending D.E.I., he bragged about kicking two million people off food stamps. It was like a Christmas message from the Grinch.” — JIMMY KIMMEL “Trump applauded the efforts of a World War II vet who liberated an internment camp, at the same time he is building new ones here in the United States. He claimed gas is down to $1.85 a gallon. When you ramble mostly incoherently for two hours is that technically still a speech or does it at some point become a conniption fit?” — JIMMY KIMMEL The Punchiest Punchlines (Long-Winded Edition) “But tonight, Trump’s speech focused on his major accomplishments and when those eight seconds were up, he just riffed for an hour and a half.” — JIMMY FALLON “Trump told us in advance that the speech was going to be long and...
