Trump demands Jimmy Kimmel be fired over Melania 'expectant widow' joke

Donald Trump has called for comedian Jimmy Kimmel to be fired for calling first lady Melania Trump an "expectant widow".

Kimmel delivered the remarks last Thursday, before a third alleged attempt to assassinate the US President was made at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington on Saturday.

In a monologue, Kimmel portrayed himself as the MC of that upcoming banquet.

In the segment, he addressed the first lady in the audience and said, "Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."

Trump, who turns 80 in June, is the oldest president to take office in the United States so far. His wife, a former model, is 56.

"I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel's despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said, but this is something far beyond the pale," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired."

Melania earlier castigated Kimmel in a statement on X, calling on US broadcaster ABC to "take a stand" against the late-night host over his comments.

The first lady insisted Kimmel's "monologue about my family isn't comedy - his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America".

As a prominent late-night comedy host, Kimmel has been at the heart of the debate over constitutionally protected speech.

He was briefly suspended from his show on the ABC network last September following government pressure after he said Trump's hard-right MAGA movement was trying to make political capital from the assassination of influencer Charlie Kirk.