Jimmy Kimmel didn’t hold back in his Wednesday night monologue as he tore into Donald Trump for turning the presidency into a money-making machine. He called out how Trump continues to profit personally, even while running for office again, and expressed frustration that Republican leaders are letting it all slide without saying a word.
Kimmel brought up rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently facing serious legal charges related to sex trafficking. He jokingly asked whether Diddy would try to buy a pardon from Trump if he were convicted. The idea might sound outrageous, but Kimmel suggested that nothing would really surprise anyone anymore when it comes to Trump. He said Trump is now selling the presidency like a celebrity sells ads on social media — comparing it to a Kardashian using their Instagram to push products. The message was clear: Trump isn’t treating the role of president with the seriousness it deserves, and instead, he’s using it like it’s part of a brand deal.
Kimmel went on to point out that Trump is organizing an exclusive dinner event for people who have bought into his meme-based cryptocurrency. But this isn’t just a small gathering — it’s for the top 220 investors. Kimmel sarcastically called it an “intimate gathering,” while making it obvious he sees it as a shady operation. He described the attendees as morally questionable individuals, even referring to them as “scumbags.” According to him, many of these investors are foreign nationals — people from outside the U.S. who are trying to get close to political power by throwing money at Trump through this digital coin.
He then highlighted just how blatant the corruption seems, saying it’s much easier now than it used to be to try to influence a president. Instead of something dramatic like delivering a truck full of gold bars to Trump’s Florida estate, all it takes now is buying into a cryptocurrency with his name on it. Kimmel quoted a government watchdog group that called the whole setup one of the most openly corrupt money-grabs ever carried out by an American president.
Kimmel claimed that Trump has already made billions of dollars through this crypto scheme and that investors have spent around \$140 million just for the chance to attend this dinner. He joked about how out-of-touch Trump is with the technology he’s using to get rich, saying Trump probably thinks “crypto” is a place where a pope is buried, poking fun at Trump’s lack of understanding about modern finance.
But it wasn’t just Trump that Kimmel criticized — he also slammed the Republican Party. He pointed out the hypocrisy of GOP politicians who spent years accusing President Joe Biden and his family of corruption. These same Republicans, according to Kimmel, are completely silent now while Trump is openly collecting massive amounts of money in what looks like a political money-for-access scheme. He compared Trump to a casino worker, saying he’s acting like a dealer at Caesars Palace, just collecting chips — only this time the chips are millions of dollars.
Kimmel used his platform to shine a spotlight on what he sees as a serious problem: a former president making massive personal profits while still holding enormous political influence, and doing it in a way that’s barely being questioned by those in power who should be holding him accountable. His monologue was both a comedy routine and a sharp political critique, meant to wake people up to what he believes is a dangerous double standard and a threat to democratic integrity.
