Jimmy Kimmel secures Italian citizenship in case he needs to escape Trump’s second term
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Jimmy Kimmel revealed he has his Italian passport ready, just in case.
During an interview with comedian Sarah Silverman on her podcast, the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host discussed how “much worse” the president’s second term has been for the country, without getting into specifics. He said he has obtained Italian citizenship as a result. Kimmel’s Italian heritage from his mother’s side gave him the option to double up his citizenship.
Rosie O’Donnell has left the U.S. for Ireland because of President Trump. She doesn’t plan to return until ‘it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there, in America.’
“What’s going on [with Trump] is as bad as you thought it was gonna be,” Kimmel told his ex-girlfriend.
“I feel like it’s probably even worse than [Trump] would like it to be,” he added.
Kimmel has criticized Trump pretty much nonstop on his late-night show since before the president first won the White House in 2016.
Trump has previously called Kimmel “stupid” and recently said the ABC host would be the next to lose his job after CBS announced in July that it wasn’t renewing Stephen Colbert’s contract.
CBS attributed the cancellation to ‘a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.’
Trump celebrated the news that “The Late Show” would end soon and predicted Kimmel would face the same fate. “[Kimmel] has less talent than Colbert,” the president posted on Truth Social.
Trump doubled down during a press conference last week, saying anyone off the street could do a better job than Kimmel and other mainstream late-night hosts.
For the record:
7:51 a.m. Aug. 13, 2025An earlier version of this article said President Trump secured a second term in 2020. He won his second presidential election in 2024.
Since Trump won in 2024, comedians Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres have re-settled in Ireland and England, respectively.
Kimmel has been on a summer hiatus from his show and will return to his hosting duties in September.
