Nicki Minaj’s Bold Trump Connection Revealed!

Nicki Minaj wasn't at the Grammys this year, at least not as anything other than a punchline.

'Nicki Minaj is not here,' host Trevor Noah cracked, 'she is still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues.' He then launched into an impression of the president in conversation with Minaj.

His efforts earned him a swift clapback from the rapper on X, who posted a homophobic jab at the comedian and slammed the ceremony as nothing more than a 'ritual.'

It's just the latest public spats in which Minaj, 43, has been embroiled since she did what, to many in showbiz seemed unthinkable, and came out in very public support of President Trump.

In the last three months, Minaj has advocated for Trump and Vice President JD Vance on social media, supported Erika Kirk at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in December 2025, and appeared hand-in-hand onstage with Trump himself at the Trump Accounts Summit in January.

Following her appearance with Trump, Minaj called herself the president's 'number one fan.' She even sat alongside the president and the first lady at the premier of Melania's eponymous documentary last week.

Minaj appeared hand-in-hand onstage with Trump himself at the Trump Accounts Summit in January

To say that the MAGA-fication of Minaj has stirred up some conflict among her loyal fanbase, the 'Barbz,' would be an understatement. Some have blocked her online or even destroyed her merchandise in protest of her political shift. The backlash has been as swift as it has been brutal.

But insiders have told the Daily Mail, 'Nicki is not scared of the backlash she has been receiving for her support of Donald Trump because she's seen many of her peers carve out a career after being what some would think of as being cancelled.'

The insider added: 'She has seen the likes of Chris Brown, Kanye still be around and she think any fans she lost, she's gained just as many by supporting Trump… and all it will take is another hit song to get back in everyone's good graces.'

In fact, far from being cowed by the controversy she's stirred up, the insider said, Minaj is doubling down. They revealed: 'She's always spoken her mind and now that she is getting political, she might even want to get into politics herself and would like to use her connection with Trump as an advantage for those political goals.'

Minaj is no stranger to controversy – she has a history of instigating bitter public feuds with other musical artists like Mariah Carey, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and, most recently, Jay Z, as well as nursing a seeming penchant for conspiracy theories (she went viral for her vaccine skepticism during the pandemic).

But her political shift has incited the most fallout for her yet. It's all a far cry from her past political statements.

In 2018, the rapper criticized Trump's immigration policies, calling out the administration's separation of immigrant children from their families in a Facebook post.

'I came to this country as an illegal immigrant @ 5 years old,' Minaj wrote in her post. 'I can't imagine the horror of being in a strange place and & having my parents stripped away from me at the age of 5. This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror & panic these kids feel right now?'

It's an admission which has led some to question what lies behind Minaj's very public volte face. Especially since she posted a picture of herself at the Trump Accounts Summit holding a 'gold card' courtesy of the president – a pricey expedited visa that she said she received 'free of charge.'

Minaj also supported Erika Kirk at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in December 2025

Her political shift has incited the most fallout for her yet

In 2018, the rapper criticized Trump's immigration policies on Facebook

She posted a picture of herself at the Trump Accounts Summit holding a 'gold card' courtesy of the president last month

She added that she was 'finalizing citizenship paperwork.' Following that post, an anonymous White House official told The New York Times that Minaj's gift was simply a 'memento,' as opposed to a 'visa document.' Meanwhile an anonymous Homeland Security Department official said that Minaj has been a legal permanent resident for roughly two decades. 

Others have suggested that Minaj's enthusiastic support of Trump may stem from hopes of securing presidential pardons for her husband, Kenneth Petty, a registered sex offender who was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree, and her brother, Jelani Maraj, who was convicted of predatory sexual assault and child endangerment.

Democratic strategist Mike Nellis posted on X, 'It's super f***ing embarrassing watching Nicki Minaj kiss Donald Trump's a** to get a pardon for her husband and her brother.'

But hip-hop journalist and author Sowmya Krishnamurthy sees something more prosaic at the heart of this MAGA Minaj – a bid for relevance.

Krishnamurthy said: 'In so far as her "MAGA Minaj" evolution, I really see it as a play for her for relevance, being in the public discourse, being in the headlines.'

She even noted the parallels to be found between the rabid loyalty of Minaj's Barbz fanbase and MAGA followers, adding, 'This is someone who has had a very storied career, but when it comes to figuring out her place in hip-hop and in pop culture in this space of her life, she's very much been struggling.

'How do you age? How do you evolve, especially as the female rap landscape continues to grow and diversify, where does she fit in?'

But insiders have told the Daily Mail that she 'is not scared of the backlash'

Others have suggested that Minaj's enthusiastic support of Trump may stem from hopes of securing presidential pardons, specifically for her husband, Kenneth Petty (left), a registered sex offender who was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree

Minaj went to the Kennedy Center's premiere of MELANIA in January

Minaj is hailed as one of the trailblazing female artists in the male-dominated hip-hop industry but, in recent years, her achievements have been overshadowed by controversy in her personal life and dramatic rap beefs.

Krishnamurthy, author of Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion, makes the case that Minaj's newfound infamy as a political firebrand puts the rapper back in the spotlight, in a way that she hasn't been for quite some time.

Minaj also grew up in Queens (the same borough that Trump grew up in) during a time when the president was a bombastic and larger-than-life figure in New York City, who was name-dropped in hip-hop records in the 80s and 90s as a sort of shorthand for wealth and power.

And while Minaj may be the most headline grabbing, she is not the only artist to have aligned herself with Trump. Since Trump took office in 2016, he's earned the loyalty of several hip-hop figures who he's pardoned, including Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and NBA YoungBoy.

For some, of course, it doesn't matter why Minaj has reinvented herself in the image of MAGA - the very fact that she has is enough to see her cancelled and mocked. Minaj, however, doesn't see it that way. She is, according to our source, entirely unbothered by the critics, the jokes and the threats.

After all, as the insider told the Daily Mail: 'She feels that if she is tight with the president of the United States how cancelled can she possibly be?'