--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Theories About the Anonymous Op-Ed description: Jimmy Kimmel said he suspects Vice President Pence is behind the anonymous New York Times op-ed criticizing President Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5388504/new-york-times-op-ed-trump-jimmy-kimmel/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-06T12:56:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:41.687Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Theories About Who Wrote the Anonymous Op-Ed Attacking Trump og:description: "I'm surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is" og:url: https://time.com/5388504/new-york-times-op-ed-trump-jimmy-kimmel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4516ad8740d3c628/69893778929fad8ba3bf1483/screen-shot-2018-08-10-at-9-40-03-am.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jimmy-Kimmel-Trump-Space-Force og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Theories About Who Wrote the Anonymous Op-Ed Attacking Trump twitter:description: "I'm surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4516ad8740d3c628/69893778929fad8ba3bf1483/screen-shot-2018-08-10-at-9-40-03-am.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Theories About Who Wrote the Anonymous Op-Ed Attacking President Trump by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 6, 2018 12:56 PM UTC  ABC by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 6, 2018 12:56 PM UTC Jimmy Kimmel has joined the army of Americans speculating about who wrote an [anonymous New York _Times_ op-ed](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage) criticizing President Donald Trump. An unnamed senior administration official penned an op-ed Wednesday, claiming to be a part of a group of conservatives within the Trump Administration who are working against the President, sparking a hunt for the author. Kimmel opened his bit Wednesday night by joking “I’m surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is” – a reference to First Daughter and White House Advisor Ivanka Trump. Kimmel then sided with people online pointing to Vice President Mike Pence as the op-ed writer, because of the use of the word “lodestar” in the article. Pence frequently says “lodestar” in various written statements and television appearances. “Wouldn’t that be something if it was Mike Pence?” Kimmel asked after playing a reel of video footage showing Pence’s repeated use of “lodestar” over the last few years. “Trump just announced that the Space Force’s first mission is to locate and destroy the lodestar, whatever that may be.” Pence [denied being behind the op-ed](http://time.com/5388483/mike-pence-denies-writing-anonymous-op-ed/) in a statement through his office on Thursday. > [](https://twitter.com/VPComDir/status/1037656944348221440) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5388504/new-york-times-op-ed-trump-jimmy-kimmel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5388504/new-york-times-op-ed-trump-jimmy-kimmel/"},"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Theories About Who Wrote the Anonymous Op-Ed Attacking President Trump","datePublished":"2018-09-06T12:56:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:41.687Z","description":"\"I'm surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is\"","url":"https://time.com/5388504/new-york-times-op-ed-trump-jimmy-kimmel/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4516ad8740d3c628/69893778929fad8ba3bf1483/screen-shot-2018-08-10-at-9-40-03-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4516ad8740d3c628/69893778929fad8ba3bf1483/screen-shot-2018-08-10-at-9-40-03-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jimmy-Kimmel-Trump-Space-Force","caption":"","creditText":"ABC","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/5388504/new-york-times-op-ed-trump-jimmy-kimmel/","name":"Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Theories About Who Wrote the Anonymous Op-Ed Attacking President Trump"}}]}] ```