Jimmy Kimmel slams Trump with zinger after president declares comedian 'next to go'

Late night comedy star Jimmy Kimmel fired back at Donald Trump Tuesday, hitting him with a zinger just horus after the president announced that funnyman and outspoken critic would be the latest to be fired.

"The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone," Trump declared in a Truth Social post, just days after CBS spurred uproar by announcing Stephen Colbert's show had been canceled — after he hit out at a $60 million legal settlement CBS had made with him.

"These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It's really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!" the president added.

Never one to back down from a fight, Kimmel quickly responded by reposting Trump's claim on Instagram with his own pointed commentary: "I'm hearing you're next. Or maybe it's just another wonderful secret."

The jab is a clear reference to a letter allegedly written by Trump to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein that ended with the phrase "every day be another wonderful secret" — correspondence Trump has vehemently denied authoring and is currently suing The Wall Street Journal over.

Trump posted last week: "The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued."

Trump's latest attack comes on the heels of CBS' parent company Paramount's announcement that they're canceling "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," a move the president was quick to celebrate.

"I absolutely love that Colbert got fired," Trump posted Friday. "His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!"

The Trump-Kimmel animosity has deep roots, dating back to before Trump's presidency. Ironically, Trump appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in 2015, where he held up a mock children's book titled "Winners Aren't Losers" with his name as the author.

But the relationship soured as Kimmel became increasingly critical of Trump's politics. In 2018, following a devastating school shooting in Florida that killed 17 people, Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue directly challenging the then-president: "Children are being murdered. Do something. We still haven't even talked about it; you still haven't done anything about it."

The feud reached peak intensity during Kimmel's hosting of the Academy Awards last year. While the ceremony was underway, Trump was live-tweeting his displeasure, posting: "Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less-than-average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be."

In a moment of television gold, Kimmel read Trump's post aloud during the broadcast, telling the audience: "See if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truth Social." He then thanked Trump for watching and quipped: "Isn't it past your jail time?"