Trevor Noah opened the 2026 Grammy Awards with sharp jabs at Donald Trump and Nicki Minaj.
The Daily Show alum, hosting the ceremony on Sunday, referenced Minaj’s recent White House visit and support for Trump, telling the audience, “Nicki Minaj is not here; she’s still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues. Actually.”
Noah then mimicked Trump, joking, “‘Nicki, I have the biggest ass, I have it, everybody’s saying it Nicki, I know they say to you, but it’s me, wop, wop, wop, look at it, look at it, baby.’ The crowd cheered at his take.
Noah also highlighted Lauryn Hill’s return to the Grammys, noting that her last performance was in 1999. “Back in 1999, the president had a sex scandal, people thought computers were about to destroy the world, and P Diddy was arrested. Boy, how times have changed,” he quipped.
Turning to the star-studded audience, which included Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, the Creator, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga, Noah compared it to “Jeff Bezos’s wedding but with way more Black people.”
The remarks came amid protests against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, deployed in several cities under Trump’s mass deportation initiative. In Minneapolis, ICE agents recently faced criticism after the fatal shootings of Renee Goodman on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24.