US President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed his surprise on his social media platform Truth Social that ABC has lifted the suspension of late night show host Jimmy Kimmel.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was taken off air six days ago when he was indefinitely suspended over comments he made about Charlie Kirk's death.

What did Trump say about Kimmel's return?

"I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back," Trump wrote Tuesday. "The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his "talent" was never there."

"Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy," he wrote.

Trump went on to accuse broadcaster ABC of "playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE," and said Kimmel was "yet another arm of the DNC," short for Democratic National Committee. 

"I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative."

What did Kimmel say on his return monologue?

In his first show since the suspension, Jimmy Kimmel said he never meant to make light of Kirk's murder.

"I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it's important to me as a human, and that is: You understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," Kimmel said in an emotional appearance on Tuesday night.

The newly returned late-night host mocked Trump for criticizing him for bad ratings, "He tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this show."

Kimmel criticized the ABC affiliates that took his show off the air. "That's not legal. That's not American. It's un-American," he said.

"This show is not important," Kimmel said, adding, "what is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this."

Kimmel also accused Trump of attacking media outlets that did not report favorably about him, saying of the Republican president: "He's suing them, he's bullying them."

"I know that's not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it's so important to have a free press, and it is nuts we're not paying more attention to it," Kimmel said.

He thanked the people who supported him, including those who do not share the same opinions but still stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

"It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration," he said. "They did, and they deserve credit for it."

Trump's disdain for late-night hosts

Trump has never hidden his disdain for late-night TV hosts in the US, many of whom have mocked the president.

In July, US broadcaster CBS said it would cancel "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" next May. The network said it shut down the decades-old TV institution for financial reasons. But the announcement came three days after Colbert criticized the settlement between Trump and Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, over a "60 Minutes" news feature.

At the time, Trump expressed his delight at the decision and said he heard Kimmel would be "next." 

Sinclair, Nexstar refuse to air Kimmel despite ABC lifting the ban

Meanwhile, the Sinclair and Nexstar corporations, which own ABC affiliates, refused to air Kimmel's show, affecting cities such as St. Louis, Nashville and Tennessee.

Last week, following Kimmel's comments, the two companies, which own dozens of the affiliates, announced they would remove the show from their stations' schedules, which prompted Disney to suspend the show nationwide.

Sinclair also demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk's family and make a donation to his right-wing activist group Turning Point USA.

Both confirmed that their affiliates would still not be broadcasting the show when it restarts, but Sinclair did say "discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show's potential return."

Edited by: John Silk