Kimmel, 58, called the conservative's comments 'truly appalling' on Wednesday's Jimmy Kimmel Live!
By ALEX HAMMER, US MEDIA CORRESPONDENT
Published: 21:50 BST, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 21:50 BST, 7 October 2026
Jimmy Kimmel expressed outrage at Donald Trump's joking invitation for Iran to bomb California this week.
Kimmel, 58, called the conservative's comments 'truly appalling' on Wednesday's Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The clip of Trump, 80, speaking in Nebraska Monday about the continued effects of the Iran war followed.
'It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, for keeping our country safe,' Trump said of soaring costs and the threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
'They could take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay,' he riffed.
The Grand Island crowd cheered, but Kimmel's audience in Hollywood was noticeably less thrilled.
'Oh, you’re booing, but they’re cheering,' Kimmel observed.
The section of Kimmel's monologue that followed was more serious. The White House, meanwhile, maintained on social media that the President had merely been making a playful point. The US began strikes on Iran on February 28.
Kimmel condemns Trump's remarks'He’s talking about Iran bombing us, and I know he says a lot of crazy things,' Kimmel complained.
'I know this is something we’ll forget about by Thursday when he accidentally swallows a baby at a rally or whatever the hell he does next, but that’s one of the craziest, most indefensible statements I have ever heard even this maniac make.'
The host shamed the commander-in-chief for 'openly musing about Iran, a country we are currently at war with, taking out two American cities.'
'While his adoring fans cheer him on,' Kimmel noted.
Kimmel ended the missive by sarcastically exonerating the President.
'It's OK, because we’re liberals; we deserve to be bombed,' he quipped.
'Can somebody please change this man’s diaper already? I think that old nut has been sitting in his own excrement too long! He has the "rantavirus" and it needs to be treated, medically,' Kimmel continued.
'Now we have our own President wishing death to America!'
Kimmel wasn't the only Californian to take offense to Trump's remarks: Governor Gavin Newsom slammed them as 'dangerous – if not treasonous' in an official statement Tuesday.
Newsom slams Trump's remarks'I am directing the State Threat Assessment Center to actively monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the President’s remarks as an invitation to target California,' Newsom warned in the release.
He accused Trump of purposely 'putting a target on two of our biggest cities and one of America’s largest naval hubs.'
When approached for comment, the White House referred the Daily Mail to a pointed Wednesday X post from White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.
'The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality.
'He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped.
'America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.'