Kimmel Doubles Down On Melania ‘Expectant Widow’ Insult
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel apologized for his “roast” of First Lady Melania Trump, saying that people misunderstood his joke about her being “an expectant widow.” In his opening monologue of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday night, Kimmel refused to accept any responsibility or offer an actual apology.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s
almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said. “It was not—by any stretch of the definition—a call to assassination.”
Kimmel admitted to being under scrutiny from President Donald Trump, this time because he made a joke about the first lady being a “widow” a few days before the U.S. Secret Service stopped a potential assassin outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.
“You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job?” Kimmel’s monologue began. “We’ve all been there, right?”
Kimmel then continued to criticize the first lady, doubling down on political rhetoric after President Trump’s warnings Kimmel then continued to criticize the first lady, doubling down on political rhetoric after President Trump’s warnings.
“Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said, adding that “they know that” was not a joke about “assassination” but Trump dying of old age.
Kimmel also added he understands the “stress” of being Trump’s first lady.
But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house,” he continued “But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house,” he continued. “And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.
“Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I. Because under the First Amendment, we have, as Americans, a right to free speech,” he added.
Kimmel apologized to the media affected by the assassination attempt, saying he was “sorry” for everyone at the dinner.
Just because no one got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and
scary, and we should come together,” he said “Just because no one got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary, and we should come together,” he said. “We really should. But, if you want us to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, well then, maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too.”
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump both issued statements calling for Kimmel’s firing following the attempted attack.
The suspect charged in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting made his initial appearance in federal court Monday, where he was formally advised of the charges filed by prosecutors The suspect charged in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting made his initial appearance in federal court Monday, where he was formally advised of the charges filed by prosecutors.
Advertisement Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is accused of entering the Washington Hilton while armed with multiple weapons and attempting to reach the ballroom where President Trump was attending the dinner alongside Cabinet officials and journalists Saturday night.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Allen appeared in court wearing a blue jail uniform and faces charges including attempted assassination of the President of the United States, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, and transporting a firearm across state lines.
When he was arrested, the newly unsealed probable cause affidavit revealed that he had a 12 gauge pump action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol When he was arrested, the newly unsealed probable cause affidavit revealed that he had a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38-caliber pistol.
Shortly before the alleged attack, authorities said Allen sent a written manifesto to members of his family describing an intent to target President Trump and other Cabinet officials.
In his manifesto, Allen sharply criticized Trump, falsely accusing him of being a “rapist” and “pedophile,” while also announcing he wanted to target several members of the president’s administration.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
