“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

Two days after the show was taken off the air, Trump again complained about negative media coverage of him, which he said he thought was “illegal”.

Two days after Kimmel’s monologue, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke the licences of ABC affiliates that broadcast the show. Source: Getty / ABC / Randy Holmes

The Kimmel episode unfolded a week after Kirk, a close Trump ally, was shot dead on a Utah university campus, setting off a bitter battle over responsibility in deeply polarised America, with conservatives — including Trump — blaming “the radical left”.

“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” Kimmel said.