Rapper Nicki Minaj has offered a candid explanation for her public support of United States President Donald Trump, a stance that has ignited intense backlash from fans and figures in the entertainment industry.
In an interview with Katie Miller that aired on Monday, February 2, 2026, the 43 year old rapper explained that her change in political stance was influenced by what she described as sustained bullying aimed at Trump throughout his campaign.
Minaj stated that religious freedom is very important to her, but if she is being honest, President Trump is the reason she became politically active. She explained that when she saw how he was being treated over and over, she could not handle it.
The Trinidad and Tobago born artist told Miller, wife of high level Trump adviser Stephen Miller, that the criticism leveled at Trump felt deeply personal. She claimed she felt that same bullying during Trump’s campaign that had been done to her for many years, and watching it happen to someone else in real time made her believe he did not deserve it.
Minaj said that during the most recent presidential campaign, she felt compelled to speak out, believing the things she was predicting were coming to fruition and that she might be stepping into a new calling. The rapper admitted her recent affinity for the political sphere is not as new a pursuit as it may appear.
She revealed that she had a strong premonition her whole life that she had a second job to do, stating this feeling existed before she even made it in rap. The musician confessed that there was still something inside of her that said she had another thing to do outside the industry.
Minaj cryptically revealed that something happened a few months ago, but declined to give more details. She said that sometimes people can push someone so much that they push them all the way into their next calling, into their next blessing, into their next life, and that is what happened with her.
The rapper has caused debate among her fanbase recently through her visible support of Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. She attended a Treasury Department summit on January 28, 2026, to promote Trump accounts, also known as Section 530A accounts, which are a type of individual retirement account designed to encourage early wealth building.
At the summit with President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Minaj pledged to contribute between 150,000 dollars and 300,000 dollars to fund her fans’ Trump accounts. She stated that if she had access to something like this, her whole life would have been different.
During an appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest convention in Phoenix, Arizona in December 2025, Minaj was effusive in her praise for Trump. She called him handsome and dashing and also shared her admiration for Vice President JD Vance, stating she loves both of them.
Vice President Vance said on social media platform X that Minaj said something at AmericaFest that was really profound. She has been reveling in the attention, reposting claims that she has gained more than 100,000 followers amid her newfound MAGA support.
However, the rapper’s political stance represents a dramatic shift from previous positions. In 2018, Minaj called out the separation of families at the border during Trump’s first administration, stating she came to the country as an undocumented child and could not imagine the horror of being in a strange place and having parents stripped away.
In 2020, she stated on social media that she was not going to jump on the Trump bandwagon. Her song Black Barbies from 2016 included lyrics that appeared to criticize Trump, with the line referencing that Trump wanted her to go home.
Grammys host Trevor Noah mocked Minaj’s support for Trump during his opening monologue at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 1, 2026. Noah noted that Minaj was not present at the ceremony, joking that she was still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues.
Actor Billy Porter also criticized Minaj’s Trump support while walking the red carpet at the 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year Gala on January 30, 2026. When asked about Minaj’s recent political stance, Porter responded bluntly and repeated his criticism of her position.
Some fans have questioned whether Minaj’s outreach to the Trump administration might be connected to her husband Kenneth Petty’s legal history. Petty was convicted in federal court in 2022 of failing to register as a sex offender after relocating to California with Minaj following their 2019 marriage.
Trump has granted pardons and commutations to at least 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists. There are more than 19,000 pending clemency applications with the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney dating back as far as 2009, according to agency data as of December 15, 2025.
Minaj recently announced that she would no longer be releasing a new album scheduled for March 27, 2026, though that post has since been deleted. The rapper has stated that the hate or what people have to say does not affect her at all.
The full interview with Katie Miller aired on Tuesday, February 3, at 6:00 pm Eastern Time on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Rumble and X.
