Grammys 2026: The five most scathing insults made about Donald Trump and ICE
The Grammy Awards marked the biggest night in the music industry, but there was a very specific undertone brewing on the red carpet and on stage all night in Los Angeles.
While last year’s event was prominently marked by the LA wildfires and fundraising efforts towards it, this year’s Grammys patently took aim at Donald Trump’s government administration, and particularly its department of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
With raids across the country picking up force, on top of the recent killings of civilians Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE federal agents in Minneapolis, the rage of many Trump protestors has been taken on to the red carpets of the Hollywood award season of the past few weeks.
At the Grammys, subtle protests were seen on the red carpet, with all kinds of artists from Joni Mitchell to Justin Bieber seen wearing pins that said “ICE Out” as part of their outfits for the night.
But although this clearly made a statement, the indictment of Trump and ICE more broadly didn’t stop there, with many verbal jibes being thrown at the president and his controversial policies during the ceremony.
Here we dissect five of the most scathing insults thrown towards Trump at the 2026 Grammy Awards, making it a night to go down in history in many different ways.
The five biggest protests against Donald Trump and ICE at the Grammys:
<strong>Trevor Noah</strong>
The awards host Trevor Noah was determined to go out from his stint of fronting the Grammys with a bang, making countless jokes and jibes towards Trump and his government over the course of the night. After throwing an insult towards Nicki Minaj, a supporter of the president, by saying she could not be at the ceremony as she was at the White House, the comedian then took things one step further.
After Billie Eilish won the award for ‘Song of the Year’ for ‘Wildflower’, Noah claimed: “That’s a Grammy that every artist wants — almost as much as Trump wants Greenland. Which makes sense because, since Epstein’s gone, he needs a new island to hang out with Bill Clinton.” Unsurprisingly, Trump was unhappy with the comments, and took to his Truth Social platform afterwards to threaten the host with legal action, calling him a “poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an MC”.
<strong>Billie Eilish</strong>
It came as no real shock that Eilish used her moment of Grammys glory to also take aim at Trump, since she has worked up a major track record of doing so during recent times, during both live appearances and on social media. Indeed, during her acceptance speech for ‘Song of the Year’, just before Noah made the jibe about Epstein, the singer used the chance to passionately implore action.
“No one is illegal on stolen land,” she stated, before adding that although the spirit of the awards ceremony left her feeling hopeful, “It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now.” Ultimately, Eilish imparted: “We need to keep speaking up and keep protesting. Our voices really do matter.”
<strong>Bad Bunny</strong>
Bad Bunny was the clear headline-maker of the night, creating history as the first Spanish-language artist to take home the illustrious prize of ‘Album of the Year’ for Debi Tirar Mas Fotos. After accepting the award from Harry Styles, the Puerto Rican musician made a powerful speech purely in his mother tongue, clearly as a rallying cry to his culture.
But this was not the only moment of revolution from Bad Bunny over the course of the ceremony, as during his other acceptance speech after winning ‘Best Música Urbana Album’, he emphatically said: “Before I say thanks to god, I’m going to say, ICE out,” before adding, “We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we are humans, and we are Americans.”
The artist has already come under fire from Trump, after the president has said he won’t attend the SuperBowl next week due to Bad Bunny performing the halftime show.
<strong>Kehlani</strong>
Away from the brightest lights of the stage, singer Kehlani, who later won the award for ‘Best R&B Performance’ spoke on the red carpet about the reasons for the ‘ICE Out’ badge protest being so important to participate in, without holding back. “I wanted to say fuck ICE,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
She added: “But I think they needed some couth on the carpet or something. I’m a little couthless ruthless. I think everybody — we’re too powerful of a group to all be in a room at the same time and not make some kind of statement in our country, so it’s brainless to me.”
<strong>SZA</strong>
SZA was another one of the biggest winners of the night, taking home the coveted prize of ‘Record of the Year’ alongside Kendrick Lamar for their song ‘Luther’. Although the rapper himself eschewed politics in his acceptance speech, instead thanking the namesake of the song, Luther Vandross, the singer subsequently took over the microphone to make her voice heard.
Speaking directly to appeal to the hearts of the audience, SZA said: “Please don’t fall into despair. I know that right now is a scary time, I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There have been world wars, there have been plagues, and we have gone on.”
She seismically added: “We can go on, we need each other, we need to trust each other and trust ourselves and trust your heart. We are not governed by the government, we are governed by God.”
