Walking the room and reading the crowd, Trevor Noah kicked off the Grammys with sharp humor on celebrity headlines, politics, and music culture. A joke linking Nicki Minaj and Donald Trump became the monologue’s standout moment.
Image Source: Instagram
The Grammys are usually about music, fashion, and awkward clapping shots. But this year, Trevor Noah decided to turn the biggest music night into a late-night roast and Nicki Minaj didn’t even have to be in the room for it to land hard.
As cameras rolled and celebrities settled into their seats, Noah kicked off the 2026 Grammy Awards with jokes, smiles, and a casual stroll through the crowd. Everything felt light and breezy until he noticed someone very famous was missing.
Advertisement
And then came the name everyone was waiting for.
Advertisement
Midway through his opening monologue on Sunday, February 1, Trevor Noah paused and looked around the arena.
“Nicki Minaj is not here. She is not here,” he said slowly.
The crowd instantly reacted. Loud applause. Laughs. Gasps. Behind Noah, Chrissy Teigen flashed a thumbs-up, while John Legend watched the moment unfold with a knowing smile. The message was clear: everyone got the joke.
But Noah wasn’t done.
After pointing out Minaj’s absence, Noah delivered the line that turned the room electric.
“She is still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues,” he said.
Then came the impression.
Switching to a Trump-style voice, Noah launched into a joke filled with exaggeration, bravado, and pop-culture references, joking that Trump himself had “the biggest a**” and riffing on Nicki’s music in the process.
Noah’s joke didn’t come out of nowhere. It followed a string of headline-making appearances by Nicki Minaj that have surprised fans and critics alike.
Just days before the Grammys, Minaj appeared at the Trump Accounts Summit in Washington, DC, where she openly praised Donald Trump and called herself his “No. 1 fan.”
She didn’t stop there.
Minaj said criticism of her support doesn’t bother her. In fact, she claimed it pushes her to back Trump even more.
“The hate does not affect me at all,” she said at the event. “It actually motivates me.”
She also spoke emotionally about standing by Trump, saying she believes he is protected by God and should not be “bullied.”
Advertisement
