NEW YORK — Late-night television, long a refuge for satire and cultural commentary, moved decisively into the center of the political conversation this week as Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon delivered pointed monologues scrutinizing Donald Trump, his shifting stance on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and the broader contradictions that have come to define his public narrative.

The moment followed an abrupt reversal by Mr. Trump, who publicly urged congressional Republicans to release long-withheld documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, after months of resistance from his allies. The about-face came as both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation compelling disclosure, a vote that passed with near unanimity and underscored the growing political pressure surrounding the issue.

On ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Mr. Kimmel framed the reversal with dry incredulity. He noted the timing of the president’s demand — arriving only after congressional momentum had become unstoppable — and suggested that the call for transparency followed a prolonged effort to avoid it. Without overt commentary, Kimmel allowed the contrast between rhetoric and record to serve as the joke’s foundation.

Mr. Fallon, hosting NBC’s The Tonight Show, adopted a subtler approach. Rather than sustained critique, he focused on understatement, using pauses and restrained delivery to emphasize the implausibility of the administration’s claims. His humor relied less on mockery than on gently exposing inconsistencies, allowing the audience to connect the dots on its own.

The monologues landed amid renewed attention to Mr. Trump’s past social proximity to Epstein. Recently resurfaced archival footage and photographs, including images from the early 1990s, have complicated efforts to distance the president from the disgraced financier. While no new allegations were made on the programs, both comedians pointed to the persistence of unanswered questions and the political cost of continued deflection.

Mr. Trump responded in familiar fashion, issuing a series of overnight social media posts attacking Mr. Kimmel’s ratings and calling for his removal from television. The posts, which appeared minutes after Kimmel’s broadcast ended on the West Coast, reinforced the impression that the president closely monitors late-night programming — an irony not lost on his critics.

Television executives at ABC and NBC declined to comment on the president’s remarks. But media analysts noted that direct presidential engagement with entertainment figures, particularly through personal insults, reflects a broader pattern in which cultural criticism is treated as political opposition.

The episode also highlighted how comedy has become a surrogate forum for public accountability. With formal press conferences increasingly limited and policy briefings often tightly controlled, late-night television has emerged as a space where political narratives are tested in front of millions of viewers. In that environment, humor functions less as diversion than as interpretation.

“Late-night comedy now fills gaps that traditional political communication leaves open,” said one media scholar. “It doesn’t replace journalism, but it often amplifies contradictions in ways that are immediately legible to the public.”

Both Kimmel and Fallon avoided explicit calls to action, but their segments echoed a growing frustration among voters about transparency and trust. Polling cited during the broadcasts suggested that public approval of the administration’s handling of the Epstein files has fallen sharply, including among Republican voters — a rare point of vulnerability within Mr. Trump’s political base.

The reaction online was swift. Clips from both shows circulated widely across social platforms, prompting debate not only about the Epstein documents but also about the role of satire in shaping political understanding. Supporters of the president dismissed the monologues as partisan theater, while critics argued that comedy had succeeded where formal oversight had stalled.

Historically, American presidents have been targets of late-night humor, from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama. What distinguishes the current moment, analysts say, is the degree to which satire provokes direct retaliation from the Oval Office, blurring the boundary between entertainment and governance.

As Congress moves closer to enforcing the release of the Epstein files, and as scrutiny of the administration intensifies, the intersection of politics and comedy appears unlikely to fade. For now, the late-night stage has become an unlikely arena where power, credibility and public skepticism collide — one punchline at a time.