MAGA rapper Nicki Minaj, Trump’s self-described “number one fan,” revealed that she lied about her right-wing politics to hold on to her fanbase.
Though Minaj, 43, first publicly endorsed Trump, 79, in mid-2025, she says her behind-the-scenes support goes much further back.
“I felt that way already about him,” Minaj told Time on Thursday, adding, “just that I didn’t dare act like that publicly.”
Minaj, the highest-selling female rapper in history, told the site why she decided it was now worth it to fracture her fanbase with her outspoken support for the president and other controversial conservative figures such as Charlie Kirk.
“It’s been ingrained in everyone’s brain in the music business that we are supposed to be a Democratic family. I just knew they would not like me supporting Trump,” she said. Her full-MAGA makeover began after Trump’s nemesis, California Governor Gavin Newsom, allegedly snubbed her.
“He just completely ignored me, with all the money I spent in taxes,” she said, referencing her appeals to Newsom, 58, over a series of swatting incidents that occurred at her $20 million Los Angeles mansion in 2022 and 2023, wherein anonymous callers sent heavily armed police officers to her house as a hoax.
She found support in Turning Point USA activist-turned Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, she said, and credited Luna’s assistance for helping her come out as a proud MAGA Republican. “I was shocked. I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way,” Minaj said.
“That’s what made me say that I don’t care to keep this a secret anymore.”
Minaj, who previously boasted more than 220 million Instagram followers, deactivated her account in December following intense backlash over her sit-down with Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk. Minaj lost almost 10 million followers, after which she shut down her account.
A February report from Politico revealed that the star’s social media following was already inflated by MAGA bot accounts that drove algorithms to spread her posts on X. Minaj has neither confirmed or denied the findings, but Alex Bruesewitz, political adviser to Trump told the site, “Nicki has never used bot activity to promote herself on social media, because she doesn’t need to.”
In 2025, Minaj began reposting inflammatory White House posts on her X account, called out her Democratic adversaries—namely, Jay-Z and former President Barack Obama—and spoke on behalf of Trump at the United Nations.
In a now-deleted X post following her U.N. appearance, Minaj wrote, “United Nations was a MAGA flex. Trump on da text. Y’all should be afraid of what I’m gon’ do next.”
Since then, Minaj has only further doubled down.
After joining Erika Kirk at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in December, she visited the White House in January, where she gleefully held hands with the president onstage during a D.C. summit.
After the trip, the Trinidad and Tobago-born rapper—who admitted to entering the U.S. illegally and was raised in Queens—flaunted a gold card visa that the president had gifted her. As it turns out, the supposed “visa document” was nothing more than a hollow “memento.”
Minaj shows no signs of letting up, telling Time that she’ll “do whatever it is” that Trump asks of her to support the upcoming midterm elections. She doesn’t think she’s alone, either.
“Many celebrities feel the way I do,” she said, “but they don’t say it. Sometimes you just need one brave person to get the brunt of the impact. I think I am the catalyst for that change.”
