Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was pulled from the air Wednesday hours after the US government threatened to cancel broadcasting licenses because of comments the host made about the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.The stunning move by network ABC to remove one of America’s most influential late-night shows was blasted by critics as government censorship but celebrated by Donald Trump, who has long chafed at the comedians who mock him.”Great News for America,” he wrote on his Truth Social page.”Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”Trump, who also rejoiced in July at the cancellation of Kimmel’s fellow late-night satirist Stephen Colbert, then urged that two other comedians be removed.”That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth (Meyers), two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”In Hollywood, where Kimmel’s show is recorded, audience members were turned away at the door before taping began Wednesday.Tommy Williams, a longshoreman from Florida, told AFP the move felt un-American.”Any show that’s on TV that speaks out against Donald Trump, he’s trying to shut down,” the 51-year-old said.”We’re losing our freedom of speech. This is something that happens in Russia and North Korea and China, state-run TVs stuff.”Sherri Mowbray, a San Francisco resident, said she was “devastated.” “This is free speech. We are supposed to have free speech in this country, and this is not free speech. He didn’t say anything wrong. I’m really upset.”- FCC threat -The furor comes 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 polarized America, with conservatives — including Trump — blaming “the radical left.”Authorities said this week that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was the lone gunman and brought a murder charge against him.Kimmel spoke about the shooting in his show-opening monologue on Monday.”The MAGA gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and (doing) everything they can to score political points from it,” said Kimmel, referring to the president’s “Make America Great Again” movement.He then showed footage of Trump pivoting from a question about how he had been affected by Kirk’s death to boasting about the new ballroom he is building at the White House, prompting laughter from the studio audience.”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.On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr openly threatened the license of ABC affiliates that broadcast Kimmel’s show.”I think it’s past time these (affiliates) themselves push back… and say, ‘Listen, we’re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we’re running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC,'” he told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson.Hours later, Nexstar, one of the country’s biggest owners of ABC affiliate stations, announced it would be removing the show from its stations.Nexstar is in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar merger with a rival that will require FCC approval.ABC — which is owned by Disney — then followed suit, pulling the show nationwide.Kimmel did not comment immediately and representatives for the entertainer did not respond to AFP queries.- ‘They are censoring you’ -The White House has fired several broadsides at cultural institutions it views as critical of Trump.Law firms, universities and the media have all been targeted, including with lawsuits that legal experts say are meritless but which have resulted in huge payments.ABC and Paramount-owned CBS have both coughed up.The settlements — which are to be paid to Trump’s future presidential library — were seen as being motivated by the desire of the news outlets’ parent companies to stay in Trump’s good graces.”President Trump and FCC Chair Carr made it clear: fall in line or be silenced,” Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan posted on X. California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote: “Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows. These aren’t coincidences. It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous.””They are censoring you in real time.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer Thursday welcomed Donald Trump to his country home of Chequers for talks on difficult issues including trade, Ukraine and Gaza after the US president hailed his second state visit to the UK as the “highest honour”.After a day of royal pomp and pageantry at Windsor Castle, Starmer trumpeted the announcement of £150 billion of investment into the UK from US giants including Microsoft and Blackstone.”Jobs, growth and opportunity is what I promised for working people, and it’s exactly what this state visit is delivering,” said Starmer.The prime minister has positioned himself as a bridge between the unpredictable US leader and European allies, particularly on the war in Ukraine, in a bid to secure more commitments for Kyiv from Trump.Starmer’s warm tone with the 79-year-old Republican has won some leniency in the president’s trade war, with the two countries signing an “economic prosperity deal” at the White House in May.Britain hopes to secure further concessions, and is keen to see 25-percent duties on aluminium and steel reduced to zero, but Trump’s non-committal comments suggest an agreement is not imminent.”They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them,” Trump said before leaving for Britain.- Epstein shadow -The talks could turn awkward on several fronts, with Starmer facing political troubles at home after sacking his UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over a furore involving the diplomat’s connections to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Epstein has also haunted Trump over recent weeks, with further revelations about the pair’s relationship in the 1990s and the issue may crop up in a press conference later Thursday.But it was all smiles for the US leader on Wednesday as he was lavished with the full pomp and circumstance of the British state.King Charles III welcomed Trump to Windsor Castle with a royal spectacle featuring gun salutes, mounted horses and bagpipes.The pair laughed and joked as Trump inspected troops at the castle west of London, in an elaborate welcome which played into the mercurial US leader’s love of pageantry.Around 120 horses and 1,300 members of the British military — some in red tunics and gold plumed helmets — feted Trump during a ceremonial guard of honour that British officials called the largest for a state visit in living memory.- ‘Greatest honour’ -The president and Charles ended the day with a white-tie state banquet, attended by 160 guests including senior royals, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Apple CEO Tim Cook and golfer Nick Faldo. On the menu: Watercress panna cotta with parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad, chicken wrapped in courgettes and vanilla ice cream bombe with raspberry sorbet.The playlist included Trump favourites such as Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s opera Turandot and a James Bond medley.Before the dinner, Trump told guests the state visit was “truly one of the highest honours of my life,” describing the UK and US as “two notes in one chord … each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together.”In his speech, the king praised Trump’s “personal commitment to finding solutions to some of the world’s most intractable conflicts”.But he stressed too the environmental obligations leaders had to “our children, grandchildren, and those who come after them”.First Lady Melania Trump remained in Windsor on Thursday morning, where she was due to view Queen Mary’s Doll’s House with Queen Camilla.Her husband is being kept far away from the British public, among whom polls indicate Trump remains unpopular, with the entire trip happening behind closed doors.An estimated 5,000 people marched through central London on Wednesday, waving Palestinian flags and displaying banners with slogans including “Migrants welcome, Trump not welcome”.