Jimmy Kimmel called out President Donald Trump on Monday night, January 19, offering the president a selection of his personal awards in exchange for withdrawing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The late-night host made the offer during his show after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday, January 15. Machado, who was awarded the prize in October for her work promoting democratic rights in Venezuela, met with Trump and gave the medal to him.
Following Machado’s Nobel Prize win, tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela escalated. On January 3, 2026, the United States conducted a military operation in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transported to New York to face narcoterrorism charges. Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president, and the Venezuelan government remained in place. The Trump administration announced a 50-million-barrel oil supply deal with Venezuela’s government.
Kimmel used Machado’s gesture as an opportunity to address the escalating tensions in Minneapolis, where federal immigration enforcement has sparked widespread protests and unrest. Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, on January 24, 2026, during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Pretti’s death came 17 days after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renée Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis.
The two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents triggered widespread demonstrations across Minneapolis, prompting Trump to threaten to invoke the Insurrection Act. The rarely used legislation would grant the president authority to deploy U.S. military forces within domestic borders to quell civil disorder.
During his monologue, Kimmel criticized Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for accusing Good of domestic terrorism. The late-night host said Trump loves awards and giving him one is the only way to get him to do anything.
Kimmel then made his pitch to the president. His longtime sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, wheeled out a cart displaying an array of trophies and honors Kimmel has accumulated throughout his television career.
The comedian offered his 1999 Daytime Emmy as one option. He also presented his Clio Award, his Webby Award, and a Writers Guild Award. But Kimmel saved what he called “his 2015 Soul Train Award for ‘White Person of the Year’ — a fictional award Kimmel joked about.
“The choice is yours,” Kimmel said during the broadcast. “I will personally deliver any or even all of these to the Oval Office in exchange for leaving the people of Minneapolis alone.”
Kimmel framed his offer as a direct exchange for pulling ICE out of Minneapolis and returning federal immigration agents to border enforcement duties. The comedian suggested that Trump’s apparent obsession with awards and recognition could be leveraged to de-escalate the situation in Minnesota.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to Kimmel’s proposal in a post on X. Cheung called Kimmel a no-talent loser with horrific ratings, dismissing the late-night host’s offer entirely.
The exchange between Kimmel and the White House comes as Trump faces criticism for his administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies. The president had been vocal about his disappointment over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize himself, making Machado’s decision to present him with her medal particularly significant.
On the following Sunday, Trump sent a message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre about not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The communication came as Trump was traveling to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he met with international leaders.
Machado’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recognized her efforts to promote democratic rights in Venezuela amid political turmoil in the country.
Kimmel’s offer to Trump, while clearly theatrical and intended as political commentary, underscores the deep divisions over immigration policy and federal law enforcement tactics. The comedian’s suggestion that awards are the only way to motivate Trump reflects a broader critique of the president’s perceived vanity and need for external validation.