President Donald Trump appeared to drift off during the September 11, 2026, memorial ceremony, held on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks — and ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, a longtime Trump nemesis, built his monologue on Tuesday, September 15, around the moment, handing the 80-year-old president a fresh nickname rooted in how often he has been caught dozing in public.
The comedian’s coinage: “Teddy Doze-evelt.”
“At the event, Teddy Doze-evelt got in a pretty good nap,” Kimmel said, before telling viewers the White House had denied the president fell asleep. No such statement has been published by the White House or matched to a briefing.
“They said he was just ‘solemnly listening,’” he went on. “Which is the same kind of ‘solemnly listening’ Melania does when he tries to crawl in bed with her.”
A Supercut of Public Catnaps
To make the case, Kimmel rolled a montage of clips running close to a minute, every frame catching Trump with his eyes shut: at his 2025 swearing-in; during the Fourth of July fireworks display; on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery; at the third game of the NBA Finals; at Pope Francis’ funeral; at the funeral in July for Sen. Lindsey Graham; through a string of Cabinet meetings; and at the September 11 memorials this year and last.
The punchline was hypocrisy. Kimmel reminded his audience of the years Trump spent attacking former President Joe Biden’s age and alertness under the label “Sleepy Joe.”
Trump has offered his own account of the closed eyes. In January he denied having been asleep at earlier Cabinet meetings, saying he shut them because the sessions were “pretty boring.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom needled him on social media over the Memorial Day appearance at Arlington, and has a nickname of his own for the president: “Dozy Don.”
Kimmel’s Backhanded Compliment
One compliment did surface in the segment, and it came with a catch. “Compared to Mitch McConnell, Trump has more energy than Kevin Hart,” Kimmel joked. He followed it with a clip of the 84-year-old senator, back on the job in a wheelchair after upwards of three months away, looking dazed.
