Conan O'Brien takes thinly veiled dig at Donald Trump's relationship with Putin at Oscars 2025

Conan O’Brien may have avoided politics in his opening monologue at the 97th Academy Awards, but as the night progressed, he appeared to take a thinly veiled dig at Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin - and the live audience ate it up.

Check it out below:

While acknowledging the growing success of Sean Baker’s Anora, O’Brien delivered a pointed joke that had the Dolby Theatre erupting in cheers.

“Anora is having a good night. Two wins already," O'Brien said, before delivering the punchline: "I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian."

The jab was widely interpreted as a thinly veiled reference to Trump’s relationship with Putin - particularly in light of the chaotic meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just two days prior.

Trump’s Controversial Meeting with Zelenskyy

O’Brien’s joke came on the heels of a highly publicized Oval Office meeting between Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Zelenskyy on February 28, which quickly spiraled into a tense exchange over U.S. military aid to Ukraine and a proposed minerals deal.

During the meeting, Trump warned Zelenskyy that he was “gambling with millions of lives and World War III” and accused him of disrespecting the United States.

"You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people! You're gambling with World War III," Trump told the Ukrainian leader.

Following the meeting, Zelenskyy took to Twitter to express gratitude for U.S. support, writing:

"Thank you, America, thank you for your support. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."

Trump, however, painted a different picture, stating on Truth Social: "I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.

"He disrespected the United States in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

Why Anora Was the Perfect Setup for O’Brien’s Joke

O’Brien’s remark about “standing up to a powerful Russian” tied directly into the plot of Best Picture winner Anora, which follows a Brooklyn sex worker (Mikey Madison) who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, only to face ruthless efforts from his billionaire family to annul the marriage.

The film’s themes of power struggles and resistance made it an apt parallel to the ongoing political tensions between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S., giving O’Brien’s joke an extra layer of meaning.

Audience and Online Reactions

As you'd expect with this political climate, the joke obviously left viewers divided.

Some thought it was spot on, with one person tweeting: "Good on Conan for addressing the elephant in the room."

"Conan did [an] awesome f***ing job. Love that dude," another added, with one X user calling it the "line of the night".

But there were plenty of viewers left unimpressed by the comment, with one person writing: "Conan’s swipe at President Trump as not standing up to #Russia was a deep disappointment and advertisement of his idiocy."

(There were plenty of other critics, but it was hard to find tweets that didn't refer to O'Brien as an "a**hole" or a "libt*rd".)

Meanwhile, some pointed out that O’Brien’s more subtle approach to political humor marked a departure from previous hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, who openly clashed with Trump during last year’s broadcast.

And O'Brien made several other controversial jokes throughout the ceremony.