Acosta Mocks Trump's 'Immigrant Wife' Burial
Jim Acosta speaking at a campaign rally for Donald Trump at the South Point Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, 2016. Photo by Gage Skidmore under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Jim Acosta might have finally gone too far — and the White House isn't laughing.
In a tense moment that has ignited backlash from Washington to Bedminster, former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta triggered fury from President Donald Trump's camp after mocking the burial site of his late ex-wife, Ivana Trump, during a podcast episode. The barb wasn't just tasteless — it was political. And now it's personal.
The Quip That Sparked a Firestorm
It all unfolded on the June 16 "No Kings" Day episode of "The Contrarian" podcast, where Acosta joined liberal pundit Jennifer Rubin and reporter April Ryan for a freewheeling conversation. While criticizing Trump's immigration policies amid escalating ICE raids in Los Angeles, Acosta took a detour into mockery, suggesting hypocrisy in Trump's personal life.
"How many immigrants has he married? He's got one buried at his golf course in New Jersey!" Acosta said, referencing Ivana Trump's 2022 burial at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, the New York Post reported. "Isn't she buried by the first hole or the second tee or something like that?" he added, cracking, "Immigrants always doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do!"
Laughter followed on the podcast. But the White House didn't find it funny.
Official Outrage: A Former Insider Now Targeted
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted Acosta's remarks, calling him a "disgraceful human being" in a statement reported by Fox News. The slap-down marks a dramatic twist: Acosta, once a high-profile White House reporter during Trump's first term, now finds himself openly at odds with the very institution he once covered daily.
Ivana Trump, the Czech-American mother of Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump, died in 2022 and was buried at the Bedminster club — a detail often used by Trump critics to highlight the former president's unusual real estate and burial decisions. But Acosta's pivot from policy criticism to graveyard jokes proved a line too far for the administration.
Timing and Tensions
The viral moment arrives during a combustible chapter in America's immigration debate. Over the past few weeks, ICE operations in Los Angeles have triggered mass protests, over 500 arrests, and clashes between demonstrators and police. Acosta used this backdrop to highlight what he sees as Trump's double standard — calling for strict immigration enforcement while benefiting personally from immigrants through marriages and business staffing.
But critics argue Acosta's comment didn't just challenge policy — it made light of death.
A Viral Moment With Real Consequences
Once the face of Trump-era media resistance, Acosta has leaned into his activist persona since leaving CNN in January. He has kept his progressive posture intact, but critics now accuse him of abandoning journalistic standards for cheap shots. The backlash could jeopardize Acosta's credibility as he pivots into opinion-driven media — a tightrope walked by many former correspondents-turned-pundits.
And while Acosta's defenders call it satire, the Trump administration sees it as a personal attack cloaked in political discourse.
What This Means for Media and Power
The episode underscores a growing cultural divide over how far criticism can go — and when it crosses into disrespect. For the White House, this was about dignity. For Acosta, it was about irony. But for everyone watching, it's a reminder that in 2025, the war between press and power is far from over.
The tension between decorum and defiance continues to simmer — one viral moment at a time.
References: White House condemns Jim Acosta after he jokes about Trump's dead ex-wife | White House Slams 'Disgraceful' Jim Acosta
