Jimmy Kimmel has found a new nickname for Donald Trump.
And it hits the president with one of his own favorite political weapons.
During his Tuesday night monologue, Kimmel mocked Trump over footage from the Sept. 11 memorial at the Pentagon in which the 80-year-old president appeared at times with his eyes closed and his head lowered.
The White House denied Trump had fallen asleep.
Kimmel responded with two words:
“Teddy Doze-evelt.”
“At the event, Teddy Doze-evelt got in a pretty good nap,” Kimmel joked.
The name is an obvious riff on Theodore Roosevelt — and a direct callback to Trump’s years of branding former President Joe Biden “Sleepy Joe.”
That irony quickly became the heart of Kimmel’s segment.
Trump repeatedly made Biden’s age, stamina and public appearances an issue during their years as political rivals.
Now Kimmel argued that similar footage is following Trump himself.
“It’s so perfect,” the late-night host said.
“The guy who spent four years screaming, ‘Sleepy Joe, Sleepy Joe,’ constantly falling asleep on camera.”
The latest controversy came during ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Trump attended the Pentagon commemoration, where 184 people were killed in 2001.
Reuters described the ceremony as a solemn observance honoring the nearly 3,000 people who died in the attacks.
Video and photographs from the event showed Trump closing his eyes for extended periods at several points.
Critics said he appeared to be sleeping.
The White House rejected that interpretation and said the president was “solemnly listening.”
That explanation gave Kimmel another opening.
“They said he was just ‘solemnly listening,’” he joked.
Kimmel then pushed the joke further with a reference to Melania Trump.
But there is an important distinction between comedy and fact.
A photograph or short video clip cannot conclusively establish that someone was asleep.
Trump may have been resting his eyes or listening with them closed.
The White House says he was awake.
So while Kimmel framed the moment as another example of Trump nodding off, the footage alone does not prove exactly what was happening.
That did not stop the host from building a montage around the theme.
Kimmel aired nearly a minute of clips showing Trump appearing to close his eyes or nod at a series of high-profile events.
They included his 2025 inauguration, Fourth of July celebrations, an NBA Finals game, Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, funerals and Cabinet meetings.
He also included footage from previous Sept. 11 observances.
In some of those cases, Trump has denied that he was sleeping.
Earlier this year, when questioned about footage from Cabinet meetings, Trump said he sometimes closed his eyes because the meetings were “pretty boring.”
That explanation has not stopped the clips from becoming political material.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously used his own nickname for Trump after one such appearance:
“Dozy Don.”
Kimmel evidently decided he could do better.
“Teddy Doze-evelt” transformed the same joke into something designed to sound almost presidential.
And it allowed Kimmel to emphasize what he sees as Trump’s political hypocrisy.
For years, Trump used Biden’s age as an argument against him.
He mocked Biden’s gait.
He questioned his energy.
He repeatedly called him sleepy.
Now Trump himself is the oldest sitting president in U.S. history at 80.
That naturally means moments involving his appearance and energy receive intense scrutiny.
Still, footage of someone closing their eyes is not a basis for diagnosing any medical or cognitive condition.
Kimmel’s monologue was comedy, not a medical assessment.
The White House has not announced any condition explaining the moments highlighted in the segment.
Kimmel also worked another aging Republican into the routine.
He compared Trump with Sen. Mitch McConnell, who recently returned to the Senate after more than 90 days away recovering from a serious medical episode.
“Compared to Mitch McConnell, Trump has more energy than Kevin Hart,” Kimmel cracked.
He then showed footage of McConnell, 84, returning in a wheelchair.
“He seems good, right?” Kimmel joked.
The segment relied on exaggeration, editing and political satire.
But the underlying reversal is real.
Trump made “Sleepy Joe” one of the defining insults of his political career.
Years later, images of Trump with his eyes closed at public events are providing late-night hosts with exactly the same kind of ammunition.
And Kimmel has now attached a new label to it.
The White House can insist Trump was “solemnly listening.”
Jimmy Kimmel has another name for it.
“Teddy Doze-evelt.”
