Rapper Nicki Minaj has been a divisive political figure as she has increasingly embraced far-right politics and aligned herself with Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.

Now, in a new interview conducted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Minaj detailed how and why she decided to embrace right-wing politics and align herself with Trump and his allies.

Minaj’s admiration for Trump, criticism of Jay-Z, Newsom and Obama

In an interview lasting more than 90 minutes with Time, Minaj expressed her personal admiration for President Trump, saying that “Donald Trump is his own vibe” and comparing him favorably to Marilyn Monroe.

Minaj explained that she had been drifting toward support for Trump for some time.

“I felt that way already about him, just that I didn’t dare act like that publicly,” Minaj explained of her political leanings around 2021. “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.”

Minaj also blamed the music business, particularly Jay-Z and his Roc Nation, for her alienation from the Democratic Party.

Minaj has had a one-sided public feud with Jay-Z for years, accusing Roc Nation of sabotaging her career, and she told Time that she objects to former President Barack Obama’s friendship with Jay-Z.

“I think Jay-Z ended up costing Obama a lot, whether he knows it or not,” Minaj told Time, claiming, “Lots of rappers don’t like Jay-Z and were afraid to say it.”

Minaj also criticized Obama for a 2024 campaign speech for Kamala Harris in which Obama called out Black men who were uncomfortable voting for a woman for president.

“I just saw so many videos of Black men saying that they didn’t like the way they felt about that speech that Obama gave,” Minaj said. “They felt like they weren’t being listened to.”

Minaj also explained the origin of her feud with likely future Democratic presidential candidate California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Minaj said she was unhappy that Newsom did not meet with her or personally respond to her pleas for help after her home was twice invaded by police as the result of swatting incidents.

Newsom “just completely ignored me, with all the money I spent in taxes,” Minaj complained.

Republican strategy to recruit Minaj and other celebrities

The Time story paints a picture of Minaj rejecting the Democratic Party because of these personal grievances while gravitating toward Republicans as they reached out to her.

When Minaj was criticized by the health minister of her native Trinidad and Tobago after she claimed that a friend of her cousin had experienced impotence and swollen testicles from a COVID-19 vaccine, conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk defended Minaj and her vaccine skepticism.

After Minaj’s home suffered a third swatting attack in 2025, Turning Point USA activist-turned-Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna connected Minaj with federal authorities and a private security firm.

Minaj credits Luna’s assistance with convincing her to go public with her support for Trump and the MAGA movement.

“I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way,” Minaj said of the congresswoman’s assistance.

The Time article does not simply tell a story of conservatives like Kirk and Luna reaching out to Minaj, but places these moments in the larger context of a Republican strategy to court celebrities.

The article describes a strategy within the Trump camp to gain the support of celebrities such as Amber Rose, Lawrence Taylor and Brett Favre, as well as a strategy of gaining support from popular hosts such as Joe Rogan and Theo Von.

Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz, an associate of Rep. Luna, has led this “podcast strategy,” and it was Bruesewitz who initiated the Trump administration’s outreach to Minaj after she publicly co-signed his misleading claims about Christian persecution in Nigeria.

Since then, Minaj has spoken to the United Nations about persecuted Christians and increasingly endorsed Trump and his stances, even publicly appearing with Trump. Minaj was also one of the celebrity guests at Bruesewitz’s wedding earlier this year.

In short, the Time article and Minaj’s own words paint her right-wing shift as a combination of her own political leanings, personal feuds with Democratic figures and targeted outreach from key figures in the MAGA movement.

For now, both sides appear to find the relationship beneficial, with Minaj enjoying the embrace from high-ranking MAGA officials, including the president himself, and the Trump camp using celebrities like Minaj to try to court young and minority voters.

While it is unclear whether Minaj’s relationship with MAGA will be permanent, her interview gives new insight into how it began.