Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t contain his surprise amid reports suggesting Iran would prefer to negotiate with Vice President JD Vance instead of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff or Jared Kushner.
“The Iranians don’t want to negotiate with Trump’s son-in-law, whose primary job experience before this was holding Ivanka’s purse,” Kimmel sounded off during Wednesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologue. “It seems very unfriendly. They want JD Vance to be the point person on talks, which is funny. I mean, this is the first time anyone’s ever wanted to talk to JD Vance.”
He added: “Even his wife Usha was like, ‘Are you sure they said JD?’”
As Kimmel went on, he referenced the report, which claimed that Iran sees Vance as a more acceptable diplomatic figure for the war talks over Witkoff or Kushner. Though, the late night host joked that Iran’s preference for Vance was the “same way canker sores is more acceptable than herpes.”
“But do you know how much you have to suck for someone to demand you be replaced by JD Vance?” Kimmel continued. “And it’s not an easy position for Vance to be in, because Trump hates it when anyone gets credit for anything. So, it really isn’t in JD’s best interest to do well in Iran, because his White House key card might not work when he gets back to Washington.”
Before moving on, Kimmel bemoaned that “the lives of millions of people are now in the hands of a man who struggled to order a donut,” referencing Vance’s awkward campaign stop at donut shop in 2024. Watch Kimmel’s full monologue below.
Kimmel’s jokes aside, the White House has denied the reports regarding Iran’s preference for Vance. “This story is utterly false,” a White House official said Tuesday after The Guardian reported about the snub of Witkoff and Kushner. “This obvious op sourced entirely to ‘anonymous sources’ is clearly a coordinated foreign propaganda campaign meant to undermine the president.”
Additionally, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post that “President Trump and President Trump alone decides who negotiates on his behalf,” but confirmed that Vance, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner were involved in negotiations.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
