'Christmas Message From The Grinch': Kimmel Pans Trump's 'Angry' SOTU

Alex Christy
February 25th, 2026 9:33 AM

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Predictably, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was not a fan of President Trump’s Tuesday State of the Union address, but even by his standards, Kimmel went off the rails.

Kimmel began by declaring, “It was an angry speech. The theme of tonight's speech was all foreigners are murderers. And Trump just—he said zero illegal aliens have been allowed into the United States on his watch, but the door is always open to those who come in legally to be his next wife. So, that's something. He bragged about ending DEI, he bragged about kicking two million people off food stamps. It was like a Christmas message from the Grinch.”

 

 

Sticking with the immigration theme, Kimmel also compared the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II to Trump’s America, “Trump applauded the efforts of a World War II vet who liberated an internment camp, at the same time he is building new ones here in the United States.”

Further on in his monologue, Kimmel reacted to Trump declaring he saved America from Democrats, “Whew. I have to say, Trump's dementia really makes me miss Joe Biden's dementia. It was a much friendlier dementia. Here's the real state of the union, okay. We have a nutjob wannabe king who’s doing everything he can to censor opinions he doesn’t want to hear. He has his goons arresting, incarcerating, and killing American citizens. He's cut funding for cancer research and children's hospitals while he rakes in literally billions of dollars for himself and his family.”

 

 

He added, “He's coming after our right to vote. He's protecting pedophiles and won't explain it. He's lining the pockets of billionaires. All the while neglecting the sick, the poor, the hungry, in the name of Jesus, by the way, who you can read all about in a Donald Trump edition of the God Bless the USA Bible that is made in China, available for $99.99. That is the state of the union, okay?”

Kimmel and his audience then doubled down on applauding the gold medal-winning Olympic women’s hockey team for not being in attendance, “There were some positive moments tonight. The golden boys from Team USA Hockey were in the house. They stopped by the White House this afternoon to give Insane Gretzky yet another medal he did not win. I'm sure he kept that one, too. The U.S. women's hockey team declined Trump's disingenuous invitation to the State of the Union tonight, and because they did, they got an even better offer from none other than Flavor Flav who wrote, ‘If the USA women's hockey team wants a real celebration and invite, I'll host them in Las Vegas, do some nice dinners and shows and good times.’”

 

 

Unfortunately for Kimmel, his effort to turn the women’s team into a symbol of the liberal resistance hit a snag, which he tried to explain away, “In his speech tonight, Trump claimed the women's team would be coming to the White House soon, whether they like it or not.”

Later, Kimmel welcomed the cast of Pod Save America and asked, “Were you surprised by anything? Are we allowed even to be surprised anymore?”

 

 

Tommy Vietor didn’t think the speech was particularly memorable, “It was largely kind of a paint-by-numbers State of the Union. There wasn’t a big moment. I mean, I think the Medal of Honor presentations were emotional and powerful, and good on those service members for their heroism. But, I mean, I think the discussion will probably be the hockey team, right? I mean, there wasn't a big moment.”

However, Dan Pfeiffer thought it would be a wise idea to trash even these parts of the speech, “He was kind of like fascist Oprah out there. Like, ‘You get a medal, you get a medal!’”

If offering up bad hot takes was an Olympic sport, Pfeiffer would have won the gold medal.

Here is a transcript for the February 24-taped show:

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2/25/2026

12:00 AM ET

JIMMY KIMMEL: What a speech it was. I can't believe America missed an all-new Will Trent for this one. It was—it was angry, right? It was an angry speech. The theme of tonight's speech was all foreigners are murderers. And Trump just—he said zero illegal aliens have been allowed into the United States on his watch, but the door is always open to those who come in legally to be his next wife. So, that's something. He bragged about ending DEI, he bragged about kicking two million people off food stamps. It was like a Christmas message from the Grinch.

Trump applauded the efforts of a World War II vet who liberated an internment camp, at the same time he is building new ones here in the United States.

…

Whew. I have to say, Trump's dementia really makes me miss Joe Biden's dementia. It was a much friendlier dementia. Here's the real state of the union, okay. We have a nutjob wannabe king who’s doing everything he can to censor opinions he doesn’t want to hear. He has his goons arresting, incarcerating, and killing American citizens. He's cut funding for cancer research and children's hospitals while he rakes in literally billions of dollars for himself and his family.

He's coming after our right to vote. He's protecting pedophiles and won't explain it. He's lining the pockets of billionaires. All the while neglecting the sick, the poor, the hungry, in the name of Jesus, by the way, who you can read all about in a Donald Trump edition of the God Bless the USA Bible that is made in China, available for $99.99. That is the state of the union, okay?

There were some positive moments tonight. The golden boys from Team USA Hockey were in the house. They stopped by the White House this afternoon to give Insane Gretzky yet another medal he did not win.

I'm sure he kept that one, too. The U.S. women's hockey team declined Trump's disingenuous invitation to the State of the Union tonight, and because they did, they got an even better offer from none other than Flavor Flav who wrote, “If the USA women's hockey team wants a real celebration and invite, I'll host them in Las Vegas, do some nice dinners and shows and good times.”

See, maybe that should be the new tradition. If you win gold, like, you know how you win the Super Bowl, you go to Disneyland. You win gold, you get a weekend in Vegas with Flavor Flav. And by the way, maybe he’ll even get you a neck clock, okay? In his speech tonight, Trump claimed the women's team would be coming to the White House soon, whether they like it or not.

…

KIMMEL: Were you surprised by anything? Are we allowed even to be surprised anymore?

TOMMY VIETOR: It was largely kind of a paint-by-numbers State of the Union. There wasn’t a big moment. I mean, I think the Medal of Honor presentations were emotional and powerful, and good on those service members for their heroism. But, I mean, I think the discussion will probably be the hockey team, right? I mean, there wasn't a big moment.

JON LOVETT: No.

DAN PFEIFFER: He was kind of like fascist Oprah out there. Like, “You get a medal, you get a medal!”

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