Kimmel: Trump Presidency Prompted Italian Citizenship
Jimmy Kimmel May 2, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation
On an episode of the 'The Sarah Silverman Podcast," Kimmel said he obtained Italian citizenship because "What's going on [with Trump] is as bad as you thought it was gonna be. It's so much worse; it's just unbelievable.'
Kimmel said at an event in June covered by the Italian news agency Ansa that he claimed Italian citizenship after proving his ancestral lineage.
He said his great grandparents immigrated to New York from Ischia, an island in the Gulf of Naples, after an earthquake killed "most of the family" in the late 1880s.
Kimmel's remarks came after Silverman said 'A lot of people I know' are thinking about trying to obtain citizenship in another country.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We're launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day's headlines. Text 'Alerts' to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here : joinsubtext.com/forbes.
Several liberal celebrities have threatened to leave the country in the wake of Trump's election and a few have actually done it—Rosie O'Donnell moved to Ireland and Ellen DeGeneres moved to England. O'Donnell, a frequent Trump critic, moved in January and said she is working on getting citizenship. She said she misses "many things about life there at home," but won't return until "it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America." DeGeneres spoke about her move for the first time in July. She and her wife, Portia de Rosi, arrived in England the day before the election but said they decided to make the move permanent after Trump's election. She said if same-sex marriage laws are reversed, she and de Rossi may marry again in the U.K. Other celebrities who've said they've considered moving because of the 2024 election include Sharon Stone, Cher and Barbra Streisand. U.K.-born actor Sophie Turner said she knew it was "time get get the f**k out" of the U.S. when Roe v. Wade was overturned, also citing the nation's amount of gun violence. Actress Lena Dunham in 2016 said she would be moving if Trump won his first election, then backtracked when he did. "I can survive staying in this country, MY country, to fight and live and use my embarrassment of blessings to do what's right," she said. She now lives in London. Tangent
Kimmel frequently attacks Trump in monologues on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' and made fun of him while hosting the Academy Awards last year, which Trump responded to in an interview on Fox News: "This guy's even dumber than I thought," the president said of Kimmel. CBS last month announced it would cancel the late night show of another Trump critic, Stephen Colbert, citing "purely financial' reasons, but viewers, industry insiders and Colbert himself have speculated political concerns drove the decision because CBS' owners were trying to sell the parent company but facing tough pushback from Trump's FCC. Trump celebrated Colbert's firing on Truth Social: 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' he wrote, and later suggested 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' would be the next late night show to be canceled, with Jimmy Fallon after 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!' Trump wrote. Kimmel responded by mimicking Trump's claim he would be 'next,' commenting, 'I'm hearing you're next. Or maybe it's just another wonderful secret,' in reference to a birthday note Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Forbes Celebrities On The Election: Charles Barkley Tells Dems To 'Shut Up,' Sylvester Stallone Calls Trump 'Second George Washington' By Mary Whitfill Roeloffs Forbes Stephen Colbert's Cancellation Monologue Nears 10 Million On YouTube—His Most-Watched Video In 6 Years By Mary Whitfill Roeloffs Forbes Epstein Victim Lawyer Suggests Birthday Book's Existence Is An 'Absolute Fact'—And Lawmakers Could Get It 'So Quickly' By Alison Durkee
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
9 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Was Trump right to send National Guard to Washington, D.C.?
David Bumcrot Belmont Heather Mac Donald cites several shooting incidents in Washington, D.C., including two heinous crimes involving the shooting deaths of innocent young children. Nowhere does she mention how Republicans block every effort at enacting gun-control legislation. Also left out is the number of convicted felons that President Trump has pardoned. Let's stop pretending this isn't just Trump's attempt to initiate martial law. Advertisement Robyn King Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Ipswich In Trump's political theater, Washington becomes a prop President Trump's National Guard deployment to Washington, D.C. is less about public safety and more about political theater. D.C.'s violent crime rates have fallen sharply since 2023. Cherry-picking a few brutal crimes to paint the city as in crisis ignores the data and serves a narrative, not the truth. If homicide rates alone justified military involvement, other US cities — some worse off than D.C. — would already be occupied by federal troops. The National Guard's limited 'command presence' won't fix longstanding issues of gun violence, juvenile crime, or car theft. Lasting reductions come from targeted policing, intelligence-driven enforcement, and community partnerships — not a 30-day show of force. Advertisement Worse, the move undermines D.C.'s elected leadership and sets a dangerous precedent for federal overreach. Washington's majority-minority residents have endured decades of over-policing. Imposing military oversight without an emergency inflames mistrust, chills cooperation with police, and treats citizens like subjects. Real safety is built, not staged. This deployment is a political stunt masquerading as crime control — and Washington deserves better than to be used as a prop in someone else's campaign. Paul Swindlehurst Londonderry, N.H. For this administration, an easy distraction It seems our president has found the secret for making the Jeffrey Epstein controversy go away: Invade Washington, D.C. It's amazing how short the media's attention span is. They are so easily distracted by the next outrageous thing President Trump and his representatives do or say. There is no follow-up, no accountability — essentially just narration and public relations. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was so right: 'Flood the zone,' and you can do anything. Patricia Fabbri Lynnfield
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU leaders to hold talks after Trump-Putin talks upend Ukraine ceasefire push
France, Germany, and the UK are set to hold virtual talks on Sunday after the Trump-Putin summit derailed hopes for a Ukraine ceasefire. Trump, who had previously pushed for an immediate halt to fighting, has pivoted toward backing a broader peace agreement – raising alarms in Kyiv and across Europe. As Zelensky heads to Washington, EU powers are seeking to defend their role in the peace process. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
37 minutes ago
Trump runs into the difficulty of Putin diplomacy and ending a long war
NEW YORK -- President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening 'severe consequences' and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine. Instead, Trump was the one who stood down, dropping his demand for a ceasefire in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a position that aligns with Putin's. After calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump wrote as he flew home from Friday's meeting in Alaska that it had been 'determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' It was a dramatic reversal that laid bare the challenges of dealing with Putin, a cunning adversary, as well as the complexities of a conflict that Trump had repeatedly boasted during his campaign that he could solve within 24 hours. Few details have emerged about what the two leaders discussed or what constituted the progress they both touted. The White House did not respond to messages seeking comment Saturday. While European leaders were relieved that Trump did not agree to a deal that ceded territory or otherwise favored Moscow, the summit allowed Putin to reclaim his place on the world stage and may have bought Russia more time to push forward with its offensive in Ukraine. 'We're back to where we were before without him having gone to Alaska,' said Fiona Hill, who served as Trump's senior adviser on Russia at the National Security Council during his first term, including when he last met Putin in Helsinki in 2018. In an interview, Hill argued that Trump had emerged from the meeting in a weaker position on the world stage because of his reversal. Other leaders, she said, might now look at the U.S. president and think he's 'not the big guy that he thinks he is and certainly not the dealmaking genius.' 'All the way along, Trump was convinced he has incredible forces of persuasion,' she said, but he came out of the meeting without a ceasefire — the 'one thing' he had been pushing for, even after he gave the Russian leader the 'red carpet treatment." Trump has 'run up against a rock in the form of Putin, who doesn't want anything from him apart from Ukraine," she said. At home, Democrats expressed alarm at what at times seemed like a day of deference, with Trump clapping for Putin as he walked down a red carpet during an elaborate ceremony welcoming him to U.S. soil for the first time in a decade. The two rode together in the presidential limousine and exchanged compliments. Trump seemed to revel in particular in Putin echoing his oft-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been in office instead of Democrat Joe Biden at the time. Before news cameras, Trump did not use the opportunity to castigate Putin for launching the largest ground invasion in Europe since World War II or human rights abuses he's been accused of committing. Instead, Putin was the one who spoke first, and invited Trump to join him in Moscow next. 'President Trump appears to have been played yet again by Vladimir Putin," said Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 'The President rolled out a red carpet and warmly greeted a murderous dictator on American soil and reports indicate he got nothing concrete in return.' 'Enough is enough," she went on. 'If President Trump won't act, Congress must do so decisively by passing crushing sanctions when we return in the coming weeks.' Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he supports diplomacy but 'peacemaking must be done responsibly.' 'Instead of caving to Putin, the U.S. should join our allies in levying tough, targeted new sanctions on Russia to intensify the economic pressure,' he said. Trump has tried to cast himself as a peacemaker, taking credit for helping deescalate conflicts between India and Pakistan as well as Thailand and Cambodia. He proudly mediated a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and another between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to end decades of fighting. Trump has set his eye on the Nobel Peace Prize, with numerous allies offering nominations. But Trump has struggled to made headway on the world's two most vexing conflicts: the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel's offensive in Gaza against Hamas. In Washington, the summit was met by little response from Trump's allies. Republican lawmakers who spoke out were largely reserved and generally called for continued talks and constructive actions from the Trump administration. 'President Trump brought Rwanda and the DRC to terms, India and Pakistan to terms, Armenia and Azerbaijan to terms. I believe in our President, and believe he will do what he always does — rise to the challenge,' Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement to The Associated Press. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, wrote on social media after the summit that 'while the press conference offered few details about their meeting" she was "cautiously optimistic about the signals that some level of progress was made." Murkowski said it 'was also encouraging to hear both presidents reference future meetings" but that Ukraine 'must be part of any negotiated settlement and must freely agree to its terms.' Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, offered that he was 'very proud' of Trump for having had the face-to-face meeting and was 'cautiously optimistic' that the war might end 'well before Christmas' if a trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin transpires. 'I have all the confidence in the world that Donald Trump will make it clear to Putin this war will never start again. If it does, you're going to pay a heavy price,' he said on Fox News. For some Trump allies, the very act of him meeting with Putin was success enough: conservative activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk called it 'a great thing.' But in Europe, the summit was seen as a major diplomatic coup for Putin, who has been eager to emerge from geopolitical isolation. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, praised the summit as a breakthrough in restoring high-level dialogue between Moscow and Washington, describing the talks as 'calm, without ultimatums and threats.' Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt said the summit was 'a distinct win for Putin. He didn't yield an inch' but was also 'a distinct setback for Trump. No ceasefire in sight.' 'What the world sees is a weak and wobbling America,' Bildt posted on X.
