The 68th Annual Grammy Awards kicked off Feb. 1, 2026, with the usual mix of celebrity roll call and punchlines—but one joke landed louder than the rest.
Host Trevor Noah began listing off celebrities in attendance at the awards show, from Billy Eilish and Phineas to John Legend. Then he paused before saying, "Nicki Minaj is not here! She is not here."
The crowd responded with cheers and laughter. The comedian added that Minaj was "still at the White House with President Donald Trump discussing very important issues, actually."
This comment was in reference to Minaj's recent trip to the White House, where she received one of Trump's Gold Cards—a fast track for wealthy immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship—and called herself "probably the president’s No. 1 fan."
Though she has in the past criticized Trump's immigation policies, Minaj, who immigrated with her parents as a child from Trinidad and Tobago, has vocally ramped up her support of the president in recent years. Neither widespread fan boycotts nor a deportation petition have deterred the artist.
Next, Noah launched into a Trump impression. "Nikki, I have the biggest a**! I have it. Everybody’s saying it, Nikki," he joked. "I know they say it’s you, but it’s me. Wap, wap, whap, look at it, look it, baby!"
Afterward, Noah acknowledged the room’s response. "Oh, I told you, it’s my last year. What are you going to do about it?” he said, leaning into the eventual backlash he knew would be coming.
Online reactions spiraled after the Grammys
Following the show, Trump responded on Truth Social, though not directly about Minaj.
The president attacked Noah over a separate joke he made about Trump, saying that "because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new island to hang out with Bill Clinton."
Trump wrote that the host made "false and defamatory" statements and called him "a poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C."
At the same time, Minaj spent the evening live-tweeting about the Grammys and politics.
She wrote a transphobic post about Chrissy Teigen, who can be seen giving the thumbs up during Noah's bit, and posted a claim saying, "Trevor refuses to come out the closet when everyone in the industry knows his boyfriend. Allegedly." The comments drew swift criticism from folks online.
"Transphobia because you mad af," wrote @amnesiasonice.
"You NEED mental help," wrote @TheBaddestCina. "This is ridiculous. Ranting and raving and being transphobic when you support a trifling president is CRAZY."
@temjinem defended Noah, tweeting, "When you step into politics, you don’t get immunity from satire […] Comedy doesn’t ask permission."
They went on to say, "This wasn’t disrespect. This was satire doing what satire has always done. Nicki just got treated like everyone else. If you enter politics, expect jokes. Simple."
Others focused on Minaj’s posts instead. "begging for attention so bad," wrote @sxarlights.
@NEGR0SWAN pointed out that the photo of Minaj that accompanied her attack on Noah was AI-generated. They wrote, "at home making ai photos of yourself while all your peers are publicly laughing at you on nationally syndicated television 🙁"
Still, journalist @DavidLeavitt pushed back directly, telling Minaj, "Stop shaming people based on sexuality."
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