The Trinidadian-American rapper appeared with the US president on stage in Washington, DC, where Trump invited her up after she voiced support for his so-called “Trump Accounts,” a scheme that provides trust funds for children. During the event, Minaj praised Trump’s leadership and said her support for him would not change despite public criticism.
“I will say that I am probably the president’s number one fan, and that’s not going to change,” Minaj said, holding hands with Trump at the podium. “The hate or what people have to say does not affect me at all. It actually motivates me to support him more.”
Minaj later posted images of her gold card on X (formerly Twitter). The card features Trump’s face and was captioned simply: “Welp.” In a follow-up post, she wrote that she was “finalising that citizenship paperwork” and said the card had been given to her “free of charge.”
The Trump gold card programme, launched in December, allows wealthy immigrants to gain US residency by paying $1 million (£723,650) plus a $15,000 (£10,854) processing fee. While the card grants unlimited right to live in the US, it does not automatically confer citizenship.
The programme has drawn criticism because it was introduced while the Trump administration continues to crack down on undocumented immigration.
Minaj had previously been a vocal critic of Trump’s immigration policies. In a 2018 Facebook post, she said she came to the US as an undocumented immigrant at the age of five and condemned the government’s family-separation policy at the border.
“I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place and having my parents stripped away from me at the age of five,” she wrote at the time. “This is so scary to me. Please stop this.”
In a 2024 TikTok livestream, Minaj also revealed that she was not a US citizen, despite living in the country for decades and paying millions of dollars in taxes. “You would think that with the millions of dollars I’ve paid in taxes, I would have been given an honorary citizenship many, many years ago,” she said.
During Wednesday’s event in Washington, Trump joked about growing his nails to imitate Minaj’s style and held her hand as another speaker addressed the crowd. Minaj said she would not allow Trump’s critics to “bully him,” adding, “He has a lot of force behind him, and God is protecting him.”
Meanwhile, other musicians have taken the opposite stance, using their platforms to criticise Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Bruce Springsteen released a protest song titled Streets of Minneapolis, responding to the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in separate incidents involving ICE agents.
In a message shared on social media, Springsteen described the song as a response to “state terror” and dedicated it to the victims and Minneapolis’ immigrant community.
Rapper Ice-T has also protested by changing lyrics during live performances, while artists such as Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Ariana Grande have spoken out against ICE. Eilish, who grew up in Los Angeles, has accused the agency of “tearing apart families, terrorising citizens, and murdering innocent people.”
Ariana Grande shared a post from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani calling for ICE to be abolished, while Eilish urged fellow celebrities to speak up following the deaths.
