American talk show host Jimmy Kimmel gets Italian citizenship, throws shade at Donald Trump’s America

Jimmy Kimmel has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s policies and leadership.

American late-night host Jimmy Kimmel confirmed he had been granted Italian citizenship this year, describing it partly as an “exit option” amid growing unease about the political climate under President Donald Trump’s second term.

Speaking on "The Sarah Silverman Podcast", hosted by his former partner, Kimmel said the reality of the current administration was worse than even its critics had anticipated. “What’s going on is… as bad as you thought it was gonna be, it’s so much worse. It’s just unbelievable. I feel like it’s probably even worse than [Trump] would like it to be,” he told Silverman. She responded simply: “Way worse.”

Kimmel, who has hosted "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on ABC for 22 years, said the move followed a growing conversation among friends and colleagues about securing citizenship elsewhere. “A lot of people I know are thinking about where they are going to get citizenship,” Silverman remarked during the podcast. Kimmel replied: “I do have… I did get Italian citizenship.”

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, Kimmel’s citizenship application was based on ancestry records. His maternal great-grandparents emigrated from Naples to New York in the late 19th century, leaving the island of Ischia after an earthquake devastated their village in 1883.

Kimmel’s decision echoed that of other high-profile figures who had either left the United States or obtained citizenship elsewhere following Trump’s election victory over Kamala Harris last year. Comedian Rosie O’Donnell, a long-time Trump critic, recently told Variety she had no plans to return to the US due to safety concerns for her child and the country’s political environment. Ellen DeGeneres has also settled in the United Kingdom.

Kimmel has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s policies and leadership, frequently targeting him in his late-night monologues. These attacks have drawn public responses from the president, including threats to have Kimmel’s programme cancelled.

In June, CBS abruptly terminated "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", a move some commentators speculated was politically motivated. Shortly afterwards, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon. The only real question is, who will go first?”

Kimmel addressed the remarks on air, quipping: “I’m hearing you’re next. Or maybe it’s just another wonderful secret,” referencing a Wall Street Journal report about a letter Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

During the podcast, Kimmel also criticised the hostility directed at individuals who have publicly changed their minds about supporting Trump. Citing Joe Rogan as an example, he noted that Rogan had recently questioned Trump’s deportation policies and faced an online backlash from people who reminded him of his previous support for the president.

“Now you see these clips of Joe Rogan saying, ‘Why is he doing this? Why are you deporting people?’ And people go, ‘F** you! You supported him.’ I don’t buy into that,”* Kimmel said. “The door has to stay open. If you want to change your mind, that’s so hard to do. If you want to admit you were wrong, that is so hard and so rare to do. You are welcome [to do so].”

Kimmel has previously accused Trump of sparking financial market instability to divert attention from what he described as “all the other horrible stuff”. He also once gave Donald and Melania Trump the nicknames “Don Valjean” and “Lady Misérable”.

Although he remained committed to his ABC late-night role, Kimmel acknowledged that his newly granted Italian nationality offered a potential escape route should he decide to leave the country.