• Jimmy Kimmel is poking fun at Donald Trump for appearing to fall asleep during meetings
• The president claimed in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal that cameras have captured him “blinking”
• In response, Kimmel shared a video montage of Trump shutting his eyes while conducting official White House business

Jimmy Kimmel has a new nickname for Donald Trump: “Teddy Dozevelt.”

At the end of his Wednesday, Jan. 7, monologue for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late-night host shared a 40-second video montage of the president appearing to doze off during meetings. Kimmel introduced the bit by claiming that Trump, 79, has “enough trouble staying awake.”

“Teddy Dozevelt told The Wall Street Journal that… You know those many videos of him nodding off during meetings? He says he’s not sleeping, he’s blinking,” Kimmel told his audience. “That’s right, he has the rare ability to hold a blink for minutes at a time.”

He added, “To showcase that ability, we put together this video montage of some of the many times he most definitely wasn’t falling asleep on live TV.”

The comedian then proceeded to present a clip of Trump shutting his eyes during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, sitting at a table next to Marco Rubio, while apparently dozing off and looking out of it during a handful of other meetings and press conferences.

Indeed, the president recently opened up about his health to The Wall Street Journal, denying that he sleeps during White House meetings. In the interview, published on Jan. 1, Trump said photographers have taken photos of him where it looks as if he’s sleeping, yet “sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking.”

“And they’ll catch me with the blink,” he said, noting that closing his eyes is “very relaxing to me” during meetings.

Elsewhere in the phone call, Trump told the outlet that he was not interested in regular exercise. “I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” he said. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, also previously denied that Trump was sleeping during meetings. She told Vanity Fair in an interview published on Dec. 16 that “he’s got his eyes closed and his head leaned back … and, you know, he’s fine.”

After footage from a Dec. 2 cabinet meeting showed the president apparently nodding off, press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s “amazing” performance in a statement shared by the White House with PEOPLE. “President Trump was listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon Cabinet meeting,” said Leavitt, 28.

She added, “In all of these historic meetings, the President and his incredible team highlight the exhaustive list of accomplishments they have delivered on behalf of the American people to Make America Great Again.”

Wednesday’s show was not the first time Kimmel, 58, has poked fun at the president’s shut-eye time. On Dec. 2, Kimmel did the same, sharing clips of Trump appearing to doze off while at an official White House meeting.

The latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! marks the host’s third of 2026, following a contentious 2025 full of attacks from Trump on social media. Kimmel, a vocal opponent of the president, actually gave Trump a shoutout while accepting the award for Best Talk Show at the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4.

During his speech, he referenced the challenges his show faced when Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended for six days. “Thank you to all the writers and actors and producers and union members, many of you who are in this room, who supported us, who really stepped forward for us, and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or this country,” he said, before giving a nod to Trump.

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“And most of all, I wanna thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom we would be going home empty-handed tonight,” he added. “So thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day. It’s been a banner couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.