Donald Trump and Nicki Minaj’s first in-person meeting has caused a fiasco online after viewers watched the president humiliate the New York rapper on stage, turning the spotlight into something closer to a public power play.
Not long after the awkward exchange, Trump followed up with a gesture that has fans now saying her sudden MAGA turn finally makes sense. Speculation about her outspoken support for Trump comes as she faces mounting legal issues tied to her husband’s criminal past.
After months of praising the president online, the “Super Bass” rapper may have just secured her future after she and Trump finally came face-to-face. His jokes in front of a crowd raised a sharper question about whether their meetup was meant to uplift and impact — or flex hierarchy onstage.
Trump rolled out his new “Trump Accounts” program in Washington on Wednesday with a guest list that felt more like a spectacle than a policy briefing. The initiative, which deposits $1,000 into savings accounts for babies born between 2025 and 2028 under his “Great Big Beautiful Bill,” leaned heavily on billionaire money and celebrity shine to sell it.
Flanked by Dell founder Michael Dell’s $6.25 billion pledge and Nicki Minaj’s far smaller donation, Trump framed the plan as help for families — then awkwardly undercut Minaj onstage, reminding the crowd he had more money than she did — a pointed jab that came after she recently settled a $500,000 lawsuit tied to her husband.
“There’s a certain person that’s here who’s the greatest and most successful female rapper in history, Nicki Minaj,” said Trump. “Come on. And you know — and Nicki makes a lot of cash. Not as much as Michael Dell. Not quite. Not as much, but that’s OK. But Nicki makes a lot of money, and she’s generously stepping up.”
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Before going on a tangent, he insisted that her donation was “to support the children and really, really the children of her incredible fans.”
Trump admitted he didn’t know Minaj before their meeting, but had often heard she was a “he’s a big Trump supporter and a Trump fan” over the years.
The 79-year-old went on emphasizing the “heat” Minaj got mostly from Black supporters over her backing of the twice-impeached president.
“Her community isn’t necessarily, I tell you — we did pretty d—n well with that, with your community, as we, as we say,” Trump claimed. “But, uh, Nicki has been an unbelievable supporter…. I’d like to ask you to come up, Nicki. Come on up. Come on.”
He then invited the “Barbie World” rapper randomly onstage and drifted into an awkward and strange rant gushing about Minaj’s long chrome-colored, lengthy acrylic fingernails — and even his own — in an oddly unscripted moment.
“She’s been such a great supporter and a great supporter of Trump accounts,” he said as he waited for Minaj to come on stage. “And I said, ‘I’m going to let my nails grow, ’cause I love those nails. I’m gonna, I’m gonna let those nails grow. MAGA. What can I say? She’s been with us all the way.”
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“You think you’ve seen it all but then you realise you haven’t,” replied one Threads user to a gross close-up of Trump and Minaj holding hands.
Another said, “OMG, I thought those were IV tubes hooked up to his hand! They are fingernails!?! I don’t know which is more disturbing.”
One user shifted the focus to Trump’s bizarre nails comment, “Ewww old man nails?” and then shock around how she got so close to the orange fellow Trump, who gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Another said, “The Queen just went FULL MAGA in front of everyone. Woke rap fans are having meltdowns.”
Minaj, wearing a white coat, yellow dress, and white shoes, claimed she was Trump’s “No. 1 fan” when she stepped to the podium. She got more vocal after their meetup, sharing a series of bold tweets praising Trump, as well as candid snapshots with other Trump supporters and a trendy TikTok video with Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller.
This added more fuel to the narrative that the Trinidadian-born artist was seeking citizenship or a pardon for cases tied to her husband and her brother, who is currently incarcerated.
“A favor for a favor. Some people would do anything,” wrote one judgy fan.
The “Pink Friday” rapper confirmed that she received a Trump Gold Card, granting her U.S. residency. Her full-blown MAGA support is a hard twist from her stance years ago, when she blasted the Trump administration in 2018 post describing the fear faced by children separated from their parents at the border amid immigration policies.
“Finalizing that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President. Thanks to the petition,” she wrote on X, referring to the 68,725 people who siged Change.org petition calling for her deportation. Minaj then claimed she had secured a Trump Gold Card — described on the program’s official website as an EB-1 or EB-2 visa (a “green card”) based on an individual’s ability to provide a substantial benefit to the United States — adding, “Gold Trump card free of charge,” despite the program requiring a nonrefundable $15,000 Department of Homeland Security processing fee.
oh she's super BASED ✨https://t.co/O0VJXsVgj9 https://t.co/iVUCfyhXwY
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 28, 2026
Fans were also triggered by Minaj’s long, brown lace wig, pointing out that her edges weren’t exactly as laid as when celebrity stylist Arrogant Tae does her hair. Many wondered if she did a rush job herself after noticing the visible wig glue along her hairline. One fan who was ready for her new look asked, “WHO TF DID NICKI HAIR?!!”
Others alleged she had developed the early stages of the “MAGA effect,” in line with other women who workly close Trump, such as Karoline Leavitt, Kristi Noem, Laura Loomer, and more.
