Jimmy Kimmel begs Trump to let him host White House Correspondents' Dinner with promise of ‘brand-new award'

Jimmy Kimmel has urged Donald Trump to allow him him to host the next White House Correspondent’s Dinner, as the President admitted he would be attending the event later this year.

The TV host, 58, made his case live on air on Tuesday night, a mere day after Trump had gone public with he news of his attendance.

“The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “In honor of our Nation’s 250th Birthday, and the fact that these ‘Correspondents’ now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T., according to many, it will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!”

It was this announcement that prompted Kimmel to shoot his shot and petition the President to allow him to take on the challenge of hosting duties, which are typically handled by a comedian.

“The dinner is traditionally hosted by a comedian,” he explained. “Al Franken hosted it. Ray Romano, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, Conan [O’Brien], Wanda Sykes. I googled it this morning — turns out I even hosted it back in 2012,” began Kimmel on his late night talk show.

He then went on to explain how this year’s dinner is breaking with tradition by letting Oz Pearlman, an author and mentalist, emcee the event instead - something which left the door wide open for Kimmel to take a brutal shot at Trump.

“This year, I guess Trump didn’t want to be made fun of by a comedian, so the host is a mentalist,” he continue. “We’ll have a mentalist and a mental case onstage together.”

Praising Pearlman as an ‘amazing’ performer, Kimmel conceded that he would definitely ‘be able to predict what Trump isn’t thinking’ - yet he still pushed the matter by arguing that it ‘feels like a cop out to me.’

Rather than accept defeat, Kimmel then doubled down on the issue as he addressed the President directly, complete with the offer of a bribe.

Mr. President, please let me host this dinner,” he said. “I’ve never asked you for anything, but can you imagine you, me, the commissioner of the FCC, all at a table together? Think of the ratings!”

Poking fun even further, Kimmel continued: “I’ll even throw in an award. You like awards — I’ll give you a brand-new award! The Correspondy! The Dondy Correspondy! No one will ever get it besides you.”

“Please, give the people what they want for once. This is our destiny together. You and me. Think about it. Let’s make it the greatest, hottest, most spectacular dinner of any kind ever!”

Trump himself may be less than pleased with the prospect of letting Kimmel host (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

While Kimmel might be the perfect choice for off the cuff remarks that amuse audiences, it’s unlikely that Trump himself would be quite so thrilled, given how publicly the President has berated him in the past.

The pair once shared a relatively standard late-night dynamic, yet this soon devolved into a bitter feud that really kicked off in 2024, after Kimmel made several political remarks while hosting the Oscars. These remarks, at the time, were enough for Trump to brand him the ‘worst host’ on social media, to which Kimmel responded by reading the post live on stage, and quipping to the audience: "Isn’t it past your jail time?”

In September 2025, ABC also briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! following controversial remarks Kimmel made about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump publicly celebrated the suspension, calling it ‘great news for America’ and labelling Kimmel as ‘ratings-challenged' and ‘untalented.’

Even Kimmel himself expressed this week, that he doubted Trump would allow him to host, as he thought the President would be ‘worried I’ll make fun of his blotches’ in a direct reference to the skin condition Trump was seen sporting at a recent engagement.