Trump threatens lawsuit after Trevor Noah Grammys joke about Jeffrey Epstein
Noah, who hosted the ceremony in Los Angeles on 1 February 2026, made a quip that referenced Mr Trump’s interest in Greenland and suggested he was looking for a new island after Epstein’s private island was “gone”.
US President Donald Trump has threatened legal action against comedian Trevor Noah after a joke at the Grammy Awards linked him to Jeffrey Epstein.
Noah, who hosted the ceremony in Los Angeles on 1 February 2026, made a quip that referenced Mr Trump’s interest in Greenland and suggested he was looking for a new island after Epstein’s private island was “gone”. The joke also mentioned former President Bill Clinton.
Mr Trump responded on Truth Social by saying he would be “sending my lawyers to sue”, calling the remarks false and defamatory, and insisting he has never visited Epstein’s island.
The White House has previously faced questions about Mr Trump’s past social association with Epstein, though Mr Trump has said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and that they fell out years before Epstein’s later arrest and death in custody in 2019.
Mr Clinton has also denied visiting Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little Saint James, and has not been charged with any offence linked to Epstein.
In the latest tranche of material released under new Epstein transparency rules, the US Department of Justice said some submissions included claims about Mr Trump that it described as “unfounded and false”.
The legal threat adds to Mr Trump’s recent history of litigation involving media organisations. He has a long-running dispute with the BBC over the editing of a Panorama episode, and he has also pursued defamation action involving outlets including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
