Trevor Noah’s monologue at the Grammy Awards drew an angry reaction from President Donald Trump after the host made a series of jokes linking him to Nicki Minaj and Jeffrey Epstein.
Noah, hosting the ceremony for the sixth and final time at the Crypto.com Arena, roamed through the audience as usual, but reserved his sharpest punchlines for political figures not present in the room.
“Nicki Minaj is not here,” Noah said, to loud cheers. “She is still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues.”
Minaj had visited and praised the president earlier in the week, a move widely noted as part of her recent shift toward MAGA-aligned politics.
Noah followed with a Trump impression: “Actually Nicki, I have the biggest ass, everybody’s saying it Nicki.”
While he largely avoided overt politics in his opening monologue, Noah became more pointed later in the night after Billie Eilish won Song of the Year.
“Wow. That is a Grammy that every artist wants,” Noah said, “almost as much as Trump wants Greenland. Which makes sense. I mean, because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new island to hang out with Bill Clinton.”
Trump responded after the show on Truth Social.
“Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory, statement, have never been accused being there, not even by the Fake News Media,” the post said. “Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast. It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C.”
Reacting to the audience’s response during the show, Noah had earlier said, “Oh, I told you, it’s my last year. What are you going to do about it?”
At another point, Noah referenced Trump’s history of lawsuits when he said the Grammys were airing “completely live” because “if we edited any of the show, the president would sue CBS for $16 billion.”
He also joked about Lauryn Hill’s return to the Grammys for the first time since 1999.
“Do you understand how long ago that is?” he said. “Back in 1999, the president had had a sex scandal, people thought computers were about to destroy the world, and Diddy was arrested.”
Noah later shifted to lighter exchanges with performers. He told Kendrick Lamar, “I actually thought about writing a few jokes roasting you, but then I remembered what you can do to light-skinned dudes from other countries.”
He also joked with Bad Bunny about relocating to Puerto Rico if things worsened in the United States.
“Trevor I have some news for you,” Bad Bunny replied. “Puerto Rico is part of America.”
The Recording Academy had announced less than three weeks earlier that Noah would return “one final time.” During the show, he explained, “I believe in term limits.”
Noah, a four-time Grammy nominee himself, was also up for Best Audio Book Recording for “Into The Uncut Grass,” but lost to the Dalai Lama.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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