Nicki Minaj flew to Port Huron, Michigan, on Air Force One Sunday, walked onto a stage next to President Trump, and told the crowd to vote Republican.
"Michigan, God bless you," she said. "We really need all of these great people to be elected because this is a major turning point for our country."
She led chants for Mike Rogers, the Republican running for the Senate seat retiring Democrat Gary Peters is leaving open. She led chants for Rep. John James, the Republican running for governor. Then she led the arena in a "We love Trump" chant.
It's hard to overstate how rare that is.
For more than 50 years, Democrats have won roughly nine in ten Black voters in most presidential elections. Over that time, a Black celebrity openly supporting a Republican has been treated as close to betrayal. When Joe Biden was asked about Black voters in 2020, he summed up that attitude in one sentence: "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black."
Hip-hop, whose biggest stars and core audience are mostly Black, has lived by that rule more than any other corner of the culture.
That wasn't always the case with Trump. For decades, rappers name-dropped him as shorthand for getting rich, and Mac Miller had a hit in 2011 called "Donald Trump." Then Trump ran for president as a Republican, and the industry turned on him almost overnight. In 2016, YG and Nipsey Hussle put out a song whose title can't be printed here, aimed squarely at Trump.
The handful of stars who broke ranks since then found out what it costs. When Snoop Dogg performed at an inauguration party in January 2025, he was buried in "sellout" accusations online, from the same fans who'd cheered him for 30 years.
Minaj knows the price as well as anyone. She criticized Trump during his first term. Then, last year, she started speaking out about the killing of Christians in Nigeria and thanked Trump for taking it seriously. In December, she appeared at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest. Sitting with Erika Kirk, she said she now had "utmost respect and admiration" for Trump and JD Vance.
In January, at a Treasury Department event in Washington, she called herself the president's "number one fan" and said the hatred aimed at him only made her support him more. In an interview with Lara Trump, she urged young Americans to "vote red now."
Sunday went a step further. She wasn't praising the president in a ballroom or on a podcast. She was campaigning, at a rally nine days before an election, telling voters in a swing state to send two Republicans to office.
"He represents resilience, you know," she said of Trump. "So many people were maybe giving up a little bit, a little bit hopeless, and since he's come back, he's changed the energy of our country, and he's given us a future to look forward to — a brighter future for us and our children."
She also went straight at the issue Democrats would rather not discuss. "We don't want our children to be bombarded with sex changes, right?" she said. "We want people to leave the children alone. Leave them out of it."
You can watch her speak at Trump's rally here
That message is coming from one of the best-selling female rappers in history, and her fan base skews young and diverse. Millions of them have never seen anyone they admire stand on a Republican stage. Now they've watched the Queen of Rap do it, and promise to keep doing it.
"President Trump, it is an honor to stand with you every single time," she said. "And I will continue to support you forever and ever."
The shift was showing up in the vote before Minaj ever got on that plane. In 2020, Trump won 8 percent of Black voters, according to a study of validated voters. In 2024, he won 15 percent, including 21 percent of Black men. Among Black men under 45, election surveys found roughly three in ten voted for Trump, about double his 2020 share.
Kamala Harris had Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Cardi B on her side in 2024, and Trump still nearly doubled his Black support.
Rogers and James are on the ballot November 3.
