Donald Trump praised ABC after the network temporarily preempted Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2025, calling the show “canceled” in his own post. ABC’s wording was that the program would be “preempted indefinitely”; Disney later announced its return. The distinction matters: the network’s temporary decision, local affiliates’ separate carriage choices and the later FCC dispute were related, but not the same action.
What did Trump say about Jimmy Kimmel?
After ABC announced the preemption on September 17, 2025, Trump praised the network on Truth Social: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” according to Axios’s report. He called Kimmel untalented, compared the show’s ratings unfavorably with Stephen Colbert’s, and urged NBC to cancel Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. Trump described the show as canceled; that was his characterization, not ABC’s formal announcement.
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Why did ABC preempt the show?
The decision followed Kimmel’s comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. On September 17, Nexstar said it would preempt the program on its owned and partner ABC-affiliated stations. Nexstar’s broadcasting division president, Andrew Alford, called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive” and said the company did not believe they reflected the views of its local communities. That was Nexstar’s stated rationale, not an independently established explanation for ABC’s separate network decision.
ABC then announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be preempted indefinitely. ABC’s announcement came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr had called for the show’s suspension, according to ABC News. The public statements establish the sequence; they do not by themselves establish that any one factor was the sole cause of ABC’s choice.
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Was ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ permanently canceled?
No. “Canceled” was Trump’s description. ABC initially said “preempted indefinitely,” and Disney subsequently announced that production would resume. On September 22–23, Disney said it had suspended production to avoid further inflaming a tense situation and, after conversations with Kimmel, decided the show would return Tuesday. ABC News reported Disney’s statement and the return announcement.
That sequence supports describing the show as temporarily preempted and then brought back, rather than permanently canceled. An indefinite preemption did not specify a return date when ABC first announced it; Disney’s later decision changed the immediate status.
Why did some viewers still not see the show after its return?
ABC’s network decision and the choices of local station owners were separate. Nexstar said its affiliates would continue to preempt the program after it returned to ABC. At the time, Nexstar said the show was available nationwide through multiple Disney-owned streaming products. That was a statement about availability during the 2025 preemption, not confirmation of which services carry the show today. See Nexstar’s September 23 statement.
On September 26, ABC News reported that Nexstar and Sinclair had announced the end of their preemptions. That establishes that the station groups announced a reversal, but not the exact schedule of every individual station afterward. Local listings and streaming catalogs can change, so viewers checking current access should consult their station’s schedule and the services available in their area.
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What happened in the later FCC dispute?
The episode was followed by a separate dispute over the FCC’s early review of licenses for eight ABC-owned stations. On October 7, 2026, ABC and Disney asked a federal judge to block that review. ABC’s attorneys argued that “The First Amendment demands an immediate end to the Commission’s retaliatory campaign.” That is the companies’ legal position, not a court finding.
According to the Associated Press report of October 7, 2026, the judge did not immediately rule on ABC’s request for a preliminary injunction and asked the government and ABC for further submissions by October 9 and October 14, respectively. The ruling was not expected before at least mid-October. As of that report, the request remained unresolved.
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