Nicki Minaj's Trump rally appearance splits fans and critics

Nicki Minaj has spent most of 2026 calling herself President Donald Trump's biggest fan. On Sunday, she took that support to a Michigan campaign stage, and the reaction online was immediate and divided.

The rapper, 43, traveled with Trump on Air Force One to Port Huron, Michigan, where he was campaigning for Senate candidate Mike Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James nine days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, according to USA Today. Trump called her up to speak at McMorran Place Arena, and before the rally she was filmed aboard the plane praising him. In that clip, she said Trump "wakes up at 4 o'clock in the morning" and "outworks people that are half his age," according to a transcription posted on X by conservative commentator Nick Sortor.

By Monday morning, the conversation had moved beyond the rally to three separate threads: her comments about transgender children, a crude remark Trump made about her, and a White House aide's joke about making her press secretary.

What did Minaj say at the rally?

Minaj, wearing a gold Gucci suit, opened by leading the crowd in a "We love Trump" chant, according to USA Today and MLive. She said she was "so honored to be working with this president," that he "represents resilience" and that "since he's come back, he's changed the energy of our country," Fox News reported.

She urged Michigan voters to elect Rogers and James, led chants of their names, and called the election "a major turning point for our country," according to the BBC and MLive.

She then turned to transgender issues, saying she did not want children exposed to gender transitions and that people should leave children out of it, according to Fox News and USA Today.

She closed by telling Trump she would "continue to support you forever and ever" and that "if you run again, I will support you again," Fox News reported. Fox noted that the 22nd Amendment bars Trump from being elected to a third term.

After she finished, Trump said, "She never looked more beautiful," and added, "She gets it. She's smart," according to the BBC.

What did Trump say about her?

Earlier in his speech, Trump was revisiting comments he had made about the physique of Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, according to USA Today and clips posted on X. He then made a crude remark about Minaj's body, pointed to her in the audience and told her to stand, according to the BBC, USA Today and Newsweek. Minaj stood and waved, and Trump said he hoped she "wasn't insulted," adding, "we love Nicki. She's been with us for a long time," USA Today reported.

CNN and People also reported the exchange on Monday. As of about 5 p.m. ET Monday, Minaj had not publicly commented on the remark, and her X account showed nothing objecting to it.

Who reacted, and how?

To Trump's remark. Reaction split largely along political lines. Political commentator Tara Setmayer sharply criticized Trump on X, and Tom Nichols of The Atlantic remarked on audience members smiling uneasily, according to The Comeback, in a story syndicated on Yahoo News. Ron Filipkowski, editor of the anti-Trump outlet MeidasTouch, wrote on X that the rally had reached the point where Trump was comparing the bodies of Husted and Minaj, and later listed the moment among what he described as Trump's closing arguments of the campaign.

On the other side, Sortor, who was covering the rally, posted the clip with laughing emojis, wrote that he "did NOT see this coming" and said Minaj was "PROUD" of her figure "and rightfully so." His post of the moment had been viewed more than 2.5 million times by Monday afternoon, according to X's counter. Newsweek also reported a mix of amused and critical reactions from conservative and liberal commentators.

Rapper Plies, a frequent Trump critic, posted twice about the moment on Sunday evening. In one post, he compared being told to stand up and be looked at to the treatment of enslaved people. In a second post, viewed nearly 300,000 times by Monday afternoon according to X's counter, he questioned why a crowd of self-described Christians and evangelicals applauded a married man telling another man's wife to stand up so the crowd could see her body.

To her comments on transgender children. The entertainment site Tyla reported Monday that a number of fans publicly questioned how Minaj went from being seen as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community to backing an administration that has restricted transgender rights. Tyla noted her long-standing following among LGBTQ+ fans. Some posts said the remarks were hurting her legacy, according to X's news summary of the conversation.

Others defended her. The same X summary said some users backed what they saw as a child-protection stance. Sortor's clip of that part of her speech, which he framed approvingly, had been viewed more than 1.9 million times by Monday afternoon, according to X's counter.

MLive noted that Rogers' Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, has said medical decisions about gender-affirming care should be left to doctors and patients, and, for children, to their parents.

Online volume. By NewsCubby's count using X's public post-count tool, posts mentioning Minaj rose from about 10,000 a day late last week to roughly 69,000 on Sunday and about 245,000 between 8 p.m. ET Sunday and about 5 p.m. ET Monday.

What was the "press secretary" post?

Before the rally, Minaj posted a video of herself aboard Air Force One with the caption "#AirForceOneBARBIE." Cheung, the White House communications director, separately shared a clip of Minaj praising Trump on the plane and wrote, "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!" TMZ reported that the White House's X account replied with an eyes emoji and that Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz asked her fans what they thought.

Minaj replied with an American flag and a nervous-laughing emoji. The press secretary job is currently vacant, the BBC reported. There is no indication the White House is seriously considering her, and TMZ said it was unclear whether the suggestion was anything more than a joke.

Has Minaj responded?

Not directly. As of about 5 p.m. ET Monday, Minaj's most recent post on X, from about 9:33 p.m. ET Sunday, quoted another user's post about two Black Republican candidates for governor. "I felt this on a deeply maternal level," she wrote, adding, "Thank you, President TRUMP! We appreciate you. Mike Rogers is exceptional, too." Tyla said it contacted her representatives for comment. NewsCubby found no statement from her team in coverage published through Monday afternoon.

She has answered similar criticism before. At a Trump Accounts event in Washington in January, she said that the hate directed at her over her politics "does not affect me at all" and that it "actually motivates me to support him more," according to TheWrap.

She has also tried to draw a line on transgender issues. On The Katie Miller Podcast in February, she said she has no problem with transgender adults making their own choices but opposes surgery for minors, comparing it to letting a teenager get breast implants, PinkNews reported. PinkNews noted that such surgeries on patients under 18 are extremely rare in the U.S. The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, had sharply criticized her in December over a post about transgender children, according to Attitude. NewsCubby found no new statement from the Human Rights Campaign or GLAAD about the rally as of Monday afternoon.

How did she get here?

Minaj criticized the separation of migrant families at the border during Trump's first term, Tyla reported. In his second term, she has appeared with him at events including the Trump Accounts summit in January and a White House Rose Garden luncheon, according to USA Today and TheWrap. Fox News reported that she recently served as a celebrity judge in a Small Business Administration pitch competition and urged young Americans to "vote red" in an interview with Fox's Lara Trump.

What we know

• Minaj flew on Air Force One and spoke at Trump's Port Huron rally on Oct. 25, backing Rogers and James and criticizing gender-related medical care for minors.
• Trump made a crude remark about her body from the stage before she spoke; she stood and waved.
• Reaction has split along political lines, with some longtime fans, especially LGBTQ+ fans, voicing disappointment and others defending her.

What we don't know yet

• Whether Minaj will respond directly to the criticism or to Trump's remark.
• Whether she will appear at more rallies before Nov. 3.
• Whether the backlash will have any measurable effect on her streaming numbers or touring.

What happens next

The midterm elections are Nov. 3. Trump is holding near-daily rallies through the end of the campaign. NewsCubby found no further Minaj campaign appearances announced as of Monday afternoon.

*Credits: reporting from USA Today, Fox News, the BBC, CNN, People, MLive, Newsweek, TMZ, Tyla, The Comeback (via Yahoo News), TheWrap, PinkNews and Attitude, plus public posts on X. Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped). NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*

*Want more? Explore today's headlines on NewsCubby and join My Day free to make NewsCubby part of your day.*