Grammys host Trevor Noah on Sunday clowned President Donald Trump over his newfound fan, rapper Nicki Minaj.
During his opening monologue, the former “Daily Show” host made his way through the crowd to remark on the many famous faces. Then, he pointed out that Minaj, who has gone full MAGA in recent months despite her history of criticizing Trump, wasn’t in attendance. (The rapper did not receive a nomination at this year’s ceremony.)
“She’s still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues,” said Noah before launching into his impression of the president.
“‘Actually, Nicki, I have the biggest ass! I have it — everybody’s saying it, Nicki, I know they say it to you, but it’s me! Wap, wap, wap! Look at it! Look at it, baby!’”
Noah’s comment about Minaj’s absence drew cheers from the audience. His swipes at Trump — who embraced and held hands with the “Anaconda” rapper last week — sparked laughter from the likes of John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Jennifer Hudson and Jeff Goldblum.
Minaj later seemingly responded to Noah on X, baselessly accusing the comedian of refusing to “come out the closet” in part of a bonkers social media rant.
Elsewhere in his monologue, Noah mentioned that Lauryn Hill — who is set to perform at Sunday’s ceremony — last performed at the award show in 1999, and used that as a setup for a dig at the Trump administration.
“You understand how long ago that was? Back in 1999, the president had a sex scandal, people thought computers were about to destroy the world and Diddy was arrested,” quipped Noah, in an apparent nod to the current administration’s saga with Trump’s old buddy and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Boy, how times have changed.”