Oscars host Conan O’Brien made a joke about President Donald Trump’s cordial relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin during Sunday’s ceremony.

“You know, Anora is having a good night,” he said of the Mikey Madison-starring film. “Yeah, that’s great. That’s great news. Two wins already. I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”

The audience knew what he meant, and they cheered loudly. The first-time Oscar host stood there for a few moments to soak up all the applause. O’Brien kept politics out of most of his quips. While O’Brien didn’t use Trump’s name, he didn’t need to.

The comedian’s jab came shortly after Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, “We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country – So that we don’t end up like Europe!”

Throughout his time in politics, Trump has been known for — and criticized by opponents because of — his ties to the Russian president.

Trump wasn’t at the ceremony, as the president has expressed disdain for much of the show business community; however, the film about the early years of his career, The Apprentice, was up for two awards. It lost both. Best Actor nominee Sebastian Stan lost out to Adrien Brody for The Brutalist, and Best Supporting Actor Nominee Jeremy Strong, who plays Roy Cohn, was beat by A Real Pain‘s Kieran Culkin.

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Not that Trump was a fan of the controversial movie. Quite the opposite, in fact, and he was very vocal about his feelings. Trump had called it “fake and classless” after the Ali Abbasi-directed movie was released widely in theaters in October, according to ABC News. “It’s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country, ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'” he wrote.

O’Brien, who was hosting the show for the first time, kept most of his focus on the night’s nominees. He wasn’t the only participant making political statements, however. Daryl Hannah voiced a pro-Ukraine battle cry when she took the stage to present the award for Best Film Editing.