Jimmy Kimmel Says He ‘Played a Part’ in Bringing President Trump and Melania ‘Closer Than Ever’

Jimmy Kimmel is jokingly patting himself on the back for uniting President Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

On the Wednesday, April 29, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the comedian discussed the “lavish” state dinner the commander in chief, 79, and the first lady, 56, hosted at the White House for King Charles III and Queen Camilla. In his monologue, the late-night host, 58, analyzed the body language between the billionaire and the model.

“Our first couple, Donald and Melania, who lately have seemed closer than ever, and I like to think I played a part in that,” he joked.

“Watch their hands, if you will, as they enter with the king and queen, because the hands say so much. Melania’s wearing gloves, there’s the king and the queen, and here we go,” Kimmel narrated as a clip played of Melania holding Donald’s hand, then letting go. The Apprentice alum then awkwardly tapped Melania’s hand with his pinky, and they eventually joined hands again in the clip.

“Considering the week I’ve had with the first couple, I’m just gonna say that is a completely normal way to interact for two people who are very much in love,” Kimmel laughed. “Maybe that’s why his hands are all bruised from Melania swatting them away.”

As for Kimmel’s involvement in the couple’s marriage, he was seemingly referring to the Alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner bit he did on the Thursday, April 23 episode of his show, where he joked that Melania has “a glow like an expectant widow.”

“You know, Melania’s birthday is on Sunday. That’s right. She’s planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does, looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?'” he also said in the bit.

After a gunman allegedly attempted to assassinate the president at the actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25, Melania took to X, slamming Kimmel.

“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” she wrote on the platform on Monday, April 27. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”

However, Kimmel defended himself on his show that night, insisting, “It was a pretend roast,” and calling his comment about Melania looking like an expectant widow, “a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.”

“It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination,” he added.