US late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel has taken a satirical swipe at President Donald Trump, offering to hand over his personal awards if Trump agrees to pull federal immigration agents out of Minneapolis. The joke came during Thursday night’s episode ofJimmy Kimmel Live!as protests and controversy continue over Operation Metro Surge, a major federal immigration enforcement drive in the city.
Kimmel said that appealing to Trump’s fondness for trophies might be the only way to influence him. “Giving him an award seems like the only way to get him to do anything,” Kimmel quipped, before presenting what he called an offer Trump would find “difficult to refuse.”
The comedian listed several of his own accolades — including a Daytime Emmy, a Clio Award, a Webby, a Writers Guild Award and even his tongue-in-cheek 2015 Soul Train Award for White Person of the Year — and said he would personally deliver any or all of them to the Oval Office. In return, Kimmel demanded that Trump halt Operation Metro Surge and “pull ICE out of Minneapolis and put them back at the borders where they belong.”
Kimmel’s monologue was partly triggered by Trump’s recent acceptance of a Nobel Peace Prize medal from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a gesture that drew widespread attention given Trump’s long-standing desire to win the prize himself. Mocking the moment, Kimmel joked that Trump appeared happier holding a prize he did not win than many actual Nobel laureates.
The backdrop to the satire is a tense situation in Minneapolis, where thousands of ICE and Department of Homeland Security agents were deployed in December 2025 as part of Operation Metro Surge. The operation has sparked large protests following ICE-related shootings and the use of tear gas and flash-bang devices by federal agents. Trump has warned he could invoke the Insurrection Act if local leaders fail to contain unrest, further escalating tensions.
By framing his criticism through humour and mock bargaining, Kimmel highlighted growing political and public backlash against the federal crackdown, portraying it as an example of what he called Trump’s transactional style of politics — where even trophies might become bargaining chips.
