--- description: Jimmy Kimmel knows how to convince Donald Trump to end the government shutdown. title: Jimmy Kimmel Knows How to End the Government Shutdown image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Jimmy Kimmel Thinks He Has the One Word That Could Get Trump to End the Shutdown by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 17, 2019 4:54 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 17, 2019 4:54 PM CUT Jimmy Kimmel has an idea for how to end the [partial government shutdown](http://time.com/5504453/government-shutdown-donald-trump-back-pay/ "undefined") and it involves something near to Trump’s heart. On Wednesday night’s episode of _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ the talk show host, who has been using furloughed federal workers as temporary employees on his show, came up with a way to convince the president to end the seeming stalemate. Kimmel launched with the impasse over a border wall that has led to 26 days of a government shutdown, and days with federal employees either furloughed or working without paychecks. “I know it doesn’t mean much to [Donald Trump](http://time.com/5505409/cardi-b-trump-shutdown-video/ "undefined") that a bunch of Americans are being forced to work without paychecks,” Kimmel said. So he turned his attention to something that he knows Trump cares about—golf. “But I know what does matter to you. I know what you care about down to the bottom of your Kentucky-fried little heart. And that is golf.” Kimmel had noticed that [Trump](http://time.com/5505577/rudy-giuliani-trump-campaign-collusion/ "undefined") hasn’t played golf since before the shutdown began, [ an unprecedented 52 days](https://trumpgolfcount.com/ "undefined"), the longest spell without a golf game over the course of his presidency. Kimmel guessed that Trump knows a thing or two about the optics of the President golfing instead of negotiating [with Democrats](http://time.com/5494329/house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment/ "undefined") to reopen the government, while federal employees [turn to food banks](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/us/government-employees-shutdown-food-banks/index.html "undefined") to feed their families. So Kimmel made an appeal directly to the president. “With one crazy zigzag stroke of your executive Sharpie, you could be back on the greens at Mar-a-Lago, faster than you can say ‘Pocahontas,’” Kimmel said. “You’ll be right back out there eating club sandwiches and bossing caddies around with the boys. It’s a win-win, for us and for you. The federal employees can go back to work, you can get back to doing what you do best: cheating at golf.” Kimmel closed by noting that it’s a win-win for America, begging the president to think it over, adding: “Let’s play our way out of the rough together.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5504461/jimmy-kimmel-on-shutdown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5504461/jimmy-kimmel-on-shutdown/"},"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Thinks He Has the One Word That Could Get Trump to End the Shutdown","datePublished":"2019-01-17T16:54:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:59.429Z","description":"One word: Golf","url":"https://time.com/5504461/jimmy-kimmel-on-shutdown/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Jimmy Kimmel","jimmy kimmel live","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5504461/jimmy-kimmel-on-shutdown/","name":"Jimmy Kimmel Thinks He Has the One Word That Could Get Trump to End the Shutdown"}}]}] ```