Nicki Minaj, Rap Diva Turned MAGA Advocate

Washington (United States) (AFP) - On Sunday in Phoenix (Arizona), an unexpected headliner took the stage at AmericaFest, the annual gathering of ultra-conservative youth: Nicki Minaj, rap superstar publicly aligned with Donald Trump.

"I have the greatest respect and admiration for our president," she declared to Erika Kirk, widow of ultra-conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

"This government is full of people who have heart," the rapper added during a discussion with the activist, now leader of the youth organization founded by her assassinated husband, Turning Point USA.

Wearing a dark dress very different from her usually extravagant style, without the theatrical makeup that is her trademark, she described Donald Trump as "charming and irresistible."

Perhaps wanting to pay tribute to his political tenacity, she oddly compared the vice president to an "assassin," considering him "a role model." After a brief pause, Erika Kirk defused the situation with a laughing tone, saying she had "heard it all" since her husband's assassination in September.

JD Vance later complimented Nicki Minaj on X for making "really profound remarks" on race relations.

"Hitting Rock Bottom"

"We knew Nicki Minaj had been going downhill for a while but now, she's hitting rock bottom," lamented a member of a Reddit forum dedicated to the TV show RuPaul's Drag Race.

In other comments, she is criticized for betraying her many fans in the LGBT+ community to gain publicity or political favor.

The star had been a judge on this drag queen competition in 2020 and introduced herself to the public as: "I am Nicki Minaj and I proclaim my allegiance to the drag cause."

So here is the performer of "Starships" and "Anaconda" joining the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, which absolutely rejects drag culture and refuses to acknowledge the existence of transgender people.

Self-proclaimed "Queen of Rap," admired for her ability to navigate between styles, from the coarsest to the most melodic, as well as for her ultra-controlled flow, Nicki Minaj has sales records to her name.

JD Vance had already indicated on December 11 that he considered her an ally by writing on X: "Nicki > Cardi."

This cryptic message refers to her rivalry with another American rap superstar, Cardi B, who supports the Democratic camp.

Christians

In 2018, Nicki Minaj, born in Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean), lamented on Instagram the brutality of the Republican president's anti-immigration policy, then in his first term.

"I came to this country as an illegal immigrant at age 5," she revealed in a now inaccessible message on the platform but widely reproduced at the time by the press. "Please stop this," she pleaded, referring to the forced family separations.

In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, she made headlines by publicly questioning the safety of vaccines, which she refused to receive.

But it was in November 2025 that Nicki Minaj truly, or at least publicly, joined the Trump camp.

On November 18, she made a surprise appearance at the UN to declare that "Christians are being targeted" in Nigeria, an accusation repeatedly made by Donald Trump but rejected by both the country's authorities, observers, and researchers.

Also in November, when the White House used one of her songs ("Va va voom") to praise its record on TikTok, Nicki Minaj shared the video.

Other stars, like singers Sabrina Carpenter or SZA, on the contrary, denounced the use of their music by the Trump administration.

Nicki Minaj is not the only figure in the American rap scene, which is abundant and certainly not politically monolithic, to have joined the Trumpist current.

Rapper Lil Wayne, for example, publicly supported the Republican in October 2020, posing for a photo with him just before the presidential election.

A few months later, Donald Trump granted clemency to the artist, who was then facing up to ten years in prison in a firearms possession case, as one of his last presidential pardons.