After beefing with rap rivals, Nicki Minaj becomes Trump's 'No. 1 fan'

Rap's most famous female emcee Nicki Minaj stood in a white shaggy coat at the lectern, flanked by President Donald Trump, with whom she had just held hands, and ABC's "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary.

In front of a blue backdrop with white letters that spelled out "TrumpAccounts.gov," in her regular voice, Minaj recited a new verse: "I'm probably the president's No. 1 fan, and that's not going to change."

"And the hate or what people have to say, it does not affect me at all," the "Super Bass" hitmaker continued. The move marks the completion of a spectacular shift for Minaj, once lauded outside of her discography as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.

Rejected in recent years by many fans in the genre that catapulted her to superstardom, Minaj has become one of Hollywood's most outspoken Trump supporters – and perhaps his only public A-list apostle.

Minaj moves away from rap, grows closer to Trump

Two years ago, on Jan. 26, 2024, to be exact, Minaj's rap rival Megan Thee Stallion released a hit single "Hiss." Inspired by her own complex feelings with hip-hop, "Hiss" catapulted to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

The success of Megan's song derived from a longstanding rap beef with Megan's ex-collaborator Minaj. She rapped that "these" people "don't be mad at Megan," but they're "mad at Megan's Law." The lyrics were an apparent dig at Minaj, who is married to registered sex offender Kenneth Petty, though she never mentioned Minaj or her spouse directly.

Megan's Law is a federal law that requires registered sex offenders to provide their personal information to local law enforcement agencies. The legislation was named in memory of Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old who was raped and murdered by her neighbor, a convicted sex offender, in 1994.

Minaj lashed out at Megan over the song's release, making continual inflammatory comments about her foe, including references to the 2019 death of Megan's mom and a controversial shooting at the hands of rap peer Tory Lanez the following year.

Petty was sentenced to probation and house arrest for failing to register as a sex offender in California in 2020. Petty is a registered Level 2 sex offender on New York State’s Sex Offender Registry. He was convicted in April 1995 of attempted first-degree rape following a 1994 assault that occurred when both he and the victim were 16. He used a knife or cutting instrument during the commission of the crime, according to the registry.

Minaj's brother, Jelani Maraj, is also a convicted sex offender. Maraj was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl at his Long Island, New York, home.

As time rolled on, Minaj struggled to remain relevant in rap

As other female rappers rose to stardom over the past half-decade, Minaj struggled to remain culturally relevant. Megan won half of the six Grammy nods she received, while Lizzo has garnered 13 nominations, including for album of the year ("Special"), and won four times.

At the Grammys last February, Doechii became the third woman to win best rap album for her mixtape "Alligator Bites Never Heal." She followed in the footsteps of Lauryn Hill (1997) and Minaj adversary Cardi B (2019). Despite 12 career nominations, Minaj hasn't won a Grammy, providing fodder for frequent jabs among online critics. Her last album, "Pink Friday 2," was released in 2023, a long stretch in the fast-paced music industry, especially for rappers.

Still, among her devoted fanbase, the "Queen of Rap" has kept her crown. Her Pink Friday 2 World Tour made history in 2024 as the highest grossing tour by a woman in the genre. She accomplished that feat alone in its North American leg. Billboard critics also named Minaj the best female rapper of all time in April last year.

In July, a judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Megan and her Jay Z-owned management company, Roc Nation, and Minaj renewed their beef. "What was the name of that law again???????? Karma's Law? Touch not my anointed law? Vengeance is the Lord's law," she wrote on Instagram July 8.

By the end of summer, Minaj's own MAGA-fication had come full circle. In November, after Trump announced possible military action against the Nigerian government over "the killing of Christians," Minaj publicly praised him. She then joined Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, on Nov. 18 to speak about the issue.

Minaj turned heads when she spoke with Charlie Kirk's widow Erika Kirk at Turning Point USA's America Fest the following month. "You have amazing role models like the assassin JD Vance, our vice president," Minaj said awkwardly to Kirk, whose husband, a popular far-right commentator, was assassinated in a Utah campus shooting in September.

'She's been such a great supporter'

Then the calendar flipped to 2026. The nation, reeling from its own divides, woke up to Minaj at the Trump Accounts event. The federal program intends to deposit $1,000 into savings accounts for every American kid born between 2025 and 2028, when Trump's second term ends.

Minaj has pledged to donate hundreds of thousands to her fans. She is now Trump's self-proclaimed biggest fan, a contest in which she faces stiff competition. "That's not going to change," she said at the DC event on Jan. 28.

As for Trump, he's a fan of Minaj, too. Not the biggest fan among "the Barbz," her own army of loyalists, but a fan more or less. "I've been hearing so much over the years because I didn't know Nicki and I've been hearing over the years she's a big Trump supporter and Trump fan and she took a little heat on occasion," Trump said.

He called Minaj up onstage. "And I said, I'm going to let my nails grow because I love those nails," Trump added, referring to press-on nails from Minaj's own Pink Friday Nails brand. "I'm going to let those nails grow!"

(This story was updated with new information.)

Contributing: Kinsey Crowley, Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson