Late night host Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday taunted Donald Trump after a federal appeals court ruled he does not have “immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while he was in office.

“Kind of a bummer,” Mr Kimmel joked. “Poor guy drank all that bleach for nothing.”

Mr Trump is facing a raft of legal challenges as he runs to be president for the second time, including a potential prosecution for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

While the former president has claimed presidential immunity protects him from virtually all acts committed while in office, the US Court of Appeals disagreed, arguing that “any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as president no longer protects him against this prosecution”.

Mr Trump’s attorneys are expected to swiftly appeal the decision to the full bench of appeals court judges, or all the way up to the US Supreme Court, but Mr Kimmel thought the news would have been “devastating” for the former president.

“It was a devastating moment for Trump,” he said. “Especially when Melania started clapping.”

Following the ruling, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to slam the decision, calling it “nation-destroying”.

“A President of the United States must have Full Immunity in order to properly function and do what has to be done for the good of our Country,” he wrote.

“A Nation-destroying ruling like this cannot be allowed to stand. If not overturned, as it should be, this decision would terribly injure not only the Presidency, but the Life, Breath, and Success of our Country,” he added.

He also claimed that without immunity, “every president that leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party”.

“Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function!” he said.