Rapper Nicki Minaj has emerged as one of President Trump’s most visible celebrity supporters in 2026, declaring herself his “number one fan” and pledging substantial financial backing for his administration’s initiatives. The transformation marks a dramatic reversal from her earlier stance as a vocal critic of Trump’s immigration policies during his first term.
Minaj made her public support official on January 28, 2026, at a Treasury Department-hosted summit in Washington, where she announced plans to contribute between $150,000 and $300,000 to help fund Trump Accounts, a proposed savings initiative for newborn babies. “I will say that I am probably the president’s No. 1 fan,” she told the crowd, according to The Hill. “And that’s not going to change. The hate or what people have to say, it does not affect me at all.”
Trump publicly reciprocated the support during a White House Rose Garden Club luncheon on July 6, 2026, where he referred to Minaj as “so respected and so hot and so great,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. He called her the “greatest and most successful female rapper in history” and thanked her for her financial contributions.
From Trump Critic to MAGA Supporter
The 43-year-old rapper’s shift represents a complete reversal of her public position from just six years earlier. In 2020, at the Pollstar Live Conference, Minaj stated she was “not gonna jump on the Trump bandwagon,” citing the family separation crisis at the southern border during Trump’s first administration, according to CNN. In 2018, she had posted emotionally about her own experience arriving in the United States as an undocumented immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago at age five, writing that she could not imagine the horror of children being separated from their parents at the border.
Minaj’s transformation was both personal and strategic. According to TIME, her shift began during the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated following a series of swatting incidents at her Los Angeles home in 2022 and 2023. When she sought help from California Governor Gavin Newsom, she says she was ignored. By contrast, Republican operatives—particularly Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida—offered direct assistance with law enforcement and private security. “I was shocked,” Minaj told TIME. “I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way.”
The rapper’s political conversion was also facilitated by Trump’s political operation. Alex Bruesewitz, a 29-year-old right-wing influencer and senior Trump adviser, orchestrated much of her public alignment with the administration, according to TIME’s May 2026 investigation. Bruesewitz had spearheaded a broader “celebrity engagement strategy” during the 2024 campaign, booking Trump with popular podcast hosts and cultivating endorsements from high-profile figures. Minaj became, in TIME’s assessment, “the cornerstone” of this effort, given her reach to tens of millions of predominantly young Black female followers—a demographic long presumed out of reach for Republicans.
Minaj’s public appearances on behalf of the administration have expanded her profile within Trump’s circle. In November 2025, she addressed the United Nations about the persecution of Christians in Africa, an appearance coordinated by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz after Trump posted about the issue on Truth Social. She has also advocated for legislation and appeared at multiple White House events, including a ride in the presidential limousine, the Beast, according to TIME.
Her backing has drawn criticism from some fans and observers, who view her support as a departure from her earlier advocacy for immigrant rights and marginalized communities. However, Minaj has framed her political alignment as an expression of personal freedom. “When you can be yourself, you’re happier,” she told TIME while touring Mar-a-Lago with the President.
Sources
- The Hill — Nicki Minaj’s declaration of being Trump’s “No. 1 fan” at the Trump Accounts summit on January 28, 2026, and her pledge of $150,000 to $300,000 in contributions.
- Hollywood Reporter — Trump’s public praise of Minaj at the White House Rose Garden Club luncheon on July 6, 2026, including his comments on her appearance.
- CNN — Minaj’s 2020 statement that she would not “jump on the Trump bandwagon” and her 2018 criticism of Trump’s family separation policies at the border.
- TIME — Comprehensive reporting on Minaj’s political transformation, her interactions with Republican operatives including Alex Bruesewitz and Anna Paulina Luna, her UN appearance, and her visits to Mar-a-Lago and the White House.
