In his effort to portray President Trump as a reckless foreign policy adventurer, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel took him out of context and omitted key information on Thursday to suggest that Trump was winding down the Iran War just so he could start another one with Oman.
Reacting to the news that the U.S. and Iran are close to some sort of deal to end the war, Kimmel introduced a clip of Trump at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, “The proposed deal would open the Strait of Hormuz and begin a 60-day negotiation period to talk about their nuclear program. An agreement would end the war in Iran and maybe give Trump the leg room to start another one.”
In the clip, ABC colleague Rachel Scott asked Trump about Iran trying to rope Oman into its desired tolling scheme in the Strait of Hormuz, “Would you accept a short-term deal that allows Iran and Oman to control the strait?”
Jimmy Kimmel takes Trump out of context to suggest and omits key details to suggest we're now going to war with Oman, "The proposed deal would open the Strait of Hormuz and begin a 60-day negotiation period to talk about their nuclear program. An agreement would end the war in… pic.twitter.com/utguaLRFuP
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 29, 2026
Trump said he would not, “Nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it. It's international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow them up.”
Kimmel reacted, “The peace president, ladies and gentlemen. The winner of the FIFA peace prize is going to blow them up like they're the toilet in the Lincoln bathroom. Would this be the ninth war he ended or the tenth one he started? Trump has no idea where or even what Oman is. I'm pretty sure he thinks he fired Oman on The Apprentice.”
First, Oman has carved out a nice little position for itself as the Switzerland of the Middle East, but if it were to abandon that by joining any Iranian effort to toll the strait, there would obviously be consequences. Second, what Kimmel’s freakout omitted was that after Trump said, "Or we’ll have to blow them up,” he added, “They understand that. They’ll be fine.” Third, thankfully, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said on Thursday that he had a conversation with the Omani ambassador, who assured him there is no such plan.
Finally, Kimmel mentioned the deal “would open the Strait of Hormuz.” Indeed, reports say that transit would be “unrestricted.” All of which means that Kimmel is freaking out over a hypothetical that is extremely unlikely, but the omission of key details means that Kimmel’s audience thinks it is much more likely than it is.
Here is a transcript for the May 28 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
5/28/2026
11:45 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: The proposed deal would open the Strait of Hormuz and begin a 60-day negotiation period to talk about their nuclear program. An agreement would end the war in Iran and maybe give Trump the leg room to start another one.
RACHEL SCOTT: Would you accept a short-term deal that allows Iran and Oman to control the strait?
[jump cut]
DONALD TRUMP: Nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it. It's international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow them up.
KIMMEL: The peace president, ladies and gentlemen. The winner of the FIFA peace prize is going to blow them up like they're the toilet in the Lincoln bathroom. Would this be the ninth war he ended or the tenth one he started? Trump has no idea where or even what Oman is. I'm pretty sure he thinks he fired Oman on The Apprentice.
