Fact Check: Is ICE planning to deport Trevor Noah after a Grammy bet claim?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Amid President Donald Trump’s lawsuit threat against South African comedian Trevor Noah, a viral claim has been circulating on social media that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will deport him for allegedly manipulating the outcome of a bet during the Grammy Awards 2026. Let us analyse the rumor and fact-check the claim.

Claim: ICE plans to deport Trevor Noah

The claim first surfaced on a post on X, which came with a picture of Noah, accompanied by a caption saying, “ICE will reportedly deport South African immigrant, Trevor Noah, after manipulating the outcome of a bet during the #GRAMMYs on gambling platform 'Polymarket!"

“— This is a federal crime which the DL could face up to 20+ years in prison & $1M+ in fines.”

The post has garnered more than a million views and thousands of shares, and people in the comments appeared to believe the claim to be true. 

Fact Check: The claim is not true

The claim, however, is false, as the X account that posted itself as ‘not credible’ in its bio. 

A search on Google also does not generate any relevant results supporting the claim. If it were true, it would have been widely covered by prominent news media outlets, especially at a time when Trump had threatened a lawsuit against the Grammy Awards host. 

A fact check by Grok, the AI assistant of X, has also debunked the claim, stating, “After reviewing news sources and reports, there's no evidence that ICE plans to deport Trevor Noah or that he manipulated any Polymarket bet at the 2026 Grammys."

"He made a joke about saying 'potato' potentially winning someone money, but it wasn't a real wager option—purely comedic. No federal crime involved.”

Donald Trump threatens a lawsuit against Trevor Noah

Trump said that he planned to sue Noah after the former 'Daily Show' host joked about the president and the late Jeffrey Epstein while hosting the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, February 1.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump denounced Noah as 'pathetic' and accused him of making a 'false and defamatory' claim during the broadcast.

Noah made the remarks moments after Billie Eilish won Song of the Year, quipping that Trump wanted Greenland 'almost as much' as a new island to visit, adding that "since Epstein’s gone, he needs a new island to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

Noah closed the bit by saying it would be his final year hosting.