On Jimmy Kimmel Live, the late-night host took aim at what he described as Donald Trump’s sharpest hypocrisy yet: pushing for a Nobel Peace Prize while sending additional ICE agents into Minneapolis.
The segment later appeared on YouTube under the title “Trump Responds to Outrage in Minneapolis by Sending in More ICE Agents & Wants a Nobel Peace Prize.” Kimmel argued that Trump wants credit for reducing global conflict even as his administration ramps up immigration enforcement actions that have already prompted protests.
Kimmel framed Trump’s Nobel fixation as the heart of the contradiction. He said Trump appeared genuinely disappointed when Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado received a Nobel Peace Prize, and he joked that Trump seemed to want it for himself. When Machado asked whether that could happen, the Nobel Institute said prizes cannot be transferred.
According to Kimmel, that didn’t diminish Trump’s enthusiasm. He played clips of the 79-year-old president discussing how it would be “a great honor” to receive the award and suggesting that stopping wars should earn him multiple Nobels—one for each conflict. Kimmel then questioned why Trump mentions the Nobel so often if he truly doesn’t care about it, adding that Trump has brought it up more times in a single weekend than he has mentioned his daughter Tiffany in a decade.
Kimmel also pointed to events in both Venezuela and Minneapolis. He noted that Trump has launched military action in Venezuela, while protests have grown in Minneapolis—where 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good was shot by ICE agents. Kimmel mocked the administration’s decision to send more ICE personnel into the city, comparing it to trying to extinguish a grease fire by pouring on more grease.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has labeled Good a “domestic terrorist.” Kimmel said the administration didn’t need demonstrators to appear threatening in order to justify escalation, and he described thousands of people protesting in 16-degree weather as tensions rose. He argued the contrast looked even starker when Trump voiced support for protesters in Iran and suggested the U.S. was prepared to help them—raising Kimmel’s question: why encourage protests abroad while cracking down on protests at home?
Kimmel also highlighted what he portrayed as a pattern of impulsive moments: Trump berating Republican senators who voted to limit his war powers, boasting about Venezuelan oil even after ExxonMobil’s CEO reportedly called the country “uninvestable,” reading Marco Rubio’s handwritten note aloud during a meeting with oil executives, and suddenly pivoting to brag about a new ballroom.
He closed by mentioning Trump’s comments about taking Greenland “the hard way,” adding that a poll showed only 8 percent of Americans support that idea. Kimmel also said Denmark has suggested it would resist any U.S. invasion.
