Music artist Nicki Minaj is putting her full support behind President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their administration.
The Trinidadian rapper said she was “honored” to appear as a surprise guest on the fourth day of Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix on Dec. 21—the first annual summit since Charlie Kirk’s death in September—and praised President Trump and Vice President Vance for their relatability. The 43-year-old walked on stage hand-in-hand with Erka Kirk as her 2011 hit “Super Bass” played, greeting the cheering crowd by forming a heart with her hands and saluting fans.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president. I don’t even know if he knows this, but he has given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact,” Minaj said.
Minaj made comparisons between herself and the Republican president, noting that they both hail from Queens, New York.
“What it’s shown me, personally, is sometimes even in the worst feeling times in your life, you think you’re never going to come back from it. But you do. And our president shows that,” Minaj said. “He’s been through every single thing a person can be through publicly – having to constantly be lied [about].”
“This administration is full of people with heart and soul, and they make me proud of them,” she continued, adding praise for Vance. “I love both of them. They’re both powerful men. Smart, strong, all of that. But both of them have a very uncanny ability to be someone that you relate to. I can relate to them.”
Minaj explained that “When I hear them speak, I know that they’re one of us. … They haven’t lost touch of the world. They’re still connected to the world and what’s happening in the world.”
Trump and JD Vance has the ability to “be real and make us feel proud to be American,” she explained. She also discussed why she decided to make a political statement and vowed never to “back down” on her beliefs.
“What was the turning point? Well, I just got tired of being pushed around. Sometimes you just get tired of it and then you realize, ‘Wait a minute. I have something inside of me that’s stronger than what’s out there,'” Minaj told Kirk.
She then alluded to feeling pressure to be silent about her politics: “When you’ve had enough, you realize, ‘Wait a minute, why do I even care about these people and what they think? Who are they? They don’t even know who they are. So I’m not going to back down anymore. I’m not going to back down ever again.”
Minaj has recently been complimentary of Trump on social media and worked with his U.N. ambassador, Mike Waltz, to speak out about widespread anti-Christian violence around the world, particularly in Nigeria.
To close out AmFest 2025, Vice President Vance told the crowd that the “America First” movement is open to free thinkers who love their country. Vance appeared shortly after Erika Kirk’s discussion with Minaj. The vice president told the crowd that the political coalition forged by President Trump is strong enough to overcome internal disagreements.
“People of every faith come to our banner because they know that the America First movement will make our lives better,” Vance said. “They know Democrats don’t care about anything other than trans-ing their kids.”
Vowing to stand with “every patriot in this room to defend the country we so dearly love,” Vance dismissed conservative infighting that had gone on earlier in the conference, while not naming any of the podcasters involved.
“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance said, as some of the earlier speakers name-dropped each other amid divisions over Israel, Ukraine aid and other controversial issues on the right. “We don’t care if you’re White or Black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between… [P]eople of every faith come to our banner because they know that the America First movement will make their lives better. And they also know that the Democrats don’t care about anything other than maybe trans-ing their kids. So if you love America, if you want all of us to be richer, stronger, safer, and prouder, you have a home on this team. I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform, and I don’t really care if some people out there — I’m sure we’ll have the fake news media — denounce me after this speech.”
