What has Nicki Minaj previously said about Donald Trump and immigration policy?
Executive summary
Nicki Minaj has a documented history of criticizing Donald Trump’s immigration policies—most prominently condemning family-separation practices in 2018 and noting she “came to this country as an illegal immigrant at five years old” [1] [2]. In recent years, however, she has publicly embraced Trump, calling herself his “number one fan,” appearing onstage with him, and flaunting a Trump “Gold Card” while saying she was “finalizing” citizenship paperwork, a turn that has provoked both media scrutiny and backlash from fans [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. A past of outspoken criticism about family separations and personal history
In 2018 Minaj posted on Facebook that she had arrived in the United States “as an illegal immigrant at five years old” and described the Trump-era family-separation policy as “so scary,” urging an end to practices that ripped children from parents—a direct critique of Trump administration enforcement that she reiterated in later reporting [1] [2] [7].
2. A gradual, visible shift toward public support for Trump
Despite earlier criticisms, Minaj has in the past year become an increasingly visible supporter of President Trump: she accepted onstage introductions at administration events, publicly praised him at the Treasury Department’s Trump Accounts Summit, and declared herself his “number one fan,” moments captured and amplified by mainstream outlets including Fox News and the BBC [3] [1].
3. The Gold Card moment and claims about fast-tracked citizenship
Following her onstage appearance she posted an image of a Trump-branded “Gold Card” and tweeted she was “finalizing that citizenship paperwork as we speak,” language repeated in multiple outlets after she displayed the card and suggested she had been made eligible for expedited residency under the administration’s investor-style program [4] [5] [6] [8]. Reporting has noted the Gold Card is marketed as an expedited route akin to investor visas and that Minaj’s social posts framed it as a gift from Trump [6] [8].
4. Media scrutiny, fact-checks and alternative readings of the gesture
News organizations, including The New York Times and other outlets, raised questions about whether the publicized Gold Card was substantive or merely a memento, prompting scrutiny about whether the image represented an actual bypass of routine immigration processes; some reporting cautioned that the spectacle raised questions even as Minaj celebrated it [9] [10]. Commentary outlets have also interpreted her turn as a broader ideological shift—linking it to prior controversies and noting fans’ shocked reactions and petitions calling for her to be “deported” as political ire mounted [6] [11].
5. Contradictions, context and what remains unconfirmed
Minaj’s public record contains clear contradictions: early, explicit condemnation of Trump-era deportation and family-separation policy and a self-described childhood as an undocumented immigrant contrast sharply with later praise, hand-holding photos, and celebration of Trump-branded immigration perks—facts chronicled across outlets from BBC and Fox to Forbes and The New York Times [1] [3] [8] [9]. What available reporting does not definitively resolve are the precise legal status outcomes tied to the Gold Card she displayed (some pieces call it symbolic) and the private reasons for her ideological shift beyond her own public comments, which media critics and supporters interpret differently [9] [10] [6].