Rap star teased as new Trump press secretary after gushing interview
Updated . First published
Rapper Nicki Minaj has bolstered the truth-or-troll rumours she could be the new White House press secretary in an “interview” with US President Donald Trump’s communications director and provocateur-in-chief Steven Cheung.
The interview was posted online just hours before Trump complimented the Anaconda singer for her body in front of thousands of diehard Republicans at a rally in Michigan.
Trump escorts Minaj off the stage after she spoke during a campaign rally in Michigan. AP
After spending the past few weeks publicly commenting on the attractiveness of men around him, the president gave Minaj special attention.
“By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before – Nicki Minaj,” Trump said, prompting celebratory woos from the crowd.
“That’s hard to miss. That – stand up! That’s hard to miss.
“OK, I’m going to get back to my story, Nicki,” Trump said as more people cheered.
“I hope Nicki wasn’t insulted, but we love Nicki. She’s been with us for a long time.”
Earlier in the day Minaj, who is part of Trump’s midterms campaign entourage, spoke with Cheung on Air Force One, in a two-minute clip the latter posted on X.
Over the noise of the engines, Cheung opens with a question about Minaj’s opinion of the economy under Trump.
Nicki Minaj disembarks Air Force One. Julia Demaree Nikhinson
“Well, it’s exploding because we have a president that understands economics, first of all,” Minaj said.
“I’ve said before the president is naturally a businessman. He’s worked his way out of, you know, not having a dollar left in the bank.
“So if he can do that with himself and his own finances, surely he knows what to do with the country.”
Trump has claimed he had a “small” $US1 million ($1.42 million) loan from his father Fred to build his own company, but multiple reports, including from the Washington Post this month, estimate the elder Trump’s financial aid to his son was in the multi-millions.
A major New York Times investigation in 2018 revealed Trump had received more than $US413 million ($588 million) from his father over the course of his lifetime and that he was a “millionaire by age 8”.
He has filed for multiple corporate bankruptcies during his career.
“You know, he’s tough, internationally. He tells them what we need, not what they need,” Minaj goes on to say.
“We’re not going to be paying to kiss their ass, okay.”
Cheung goes on to ask about Trump’s arduous midterm campaigns schedule, which has seen the president zip around the US in an attempt to bolster support for Republican candidates as he faces historically low polling.
“You have a man who’s won three elections, you know, legacy media continues to attack him left and right, and what does he do?” Minaj said.
“He wakes up at four in the morning, he outworks people that are half his age.”
Trump won two presidential elections in 2016 and 2024, including by the popular vote in the latter. In 2020 as incumbent he lost to President Joe Biden, but he has repeatedly made the groundless claim the election was “stolen”.
Minaj said Trump’s campaigning was “paying it forward” for Republican candidates, which showed he was a “really great guy”.
Minaj is a vocal supporter of Trump. Jose Luis Magana
As for those polling numbers, Cheung and Minaj addressed those in his final question to her, asking what Americans thought about the “fake news polls”.
“Let’s ask Hillary Clinton how fake the fake polls are. We don’t pay those polls any mind,” Minaj said.
“Obviously, they are there to deter our voters from going out, from going out and casting their vote.
“Conservatives, we are winning, and we need not let anything stand in our way of taking it all the way, bringing it all the way home to the bank.”
A beaming Cheung says “ladies and gentlemen” before the video cuts out. He posted the clip on X saying “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!”
Online rumours have recently suggested Minaj, a vocal Trump supporter and influential and acclaimed rap star, was being considered for the position after the five-day tenure of Katie Zacharia.
Zacharia, a political commentator who succeeded Karoline Leavitt in the role, was ousted after an error-riddled press conference in which she mixed up Trump and her husband.
Katie Zacharia was fired after her first press conference. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
The Trump administration’s communications team is known for playing up absurdities which may or may not be true in attempts to flummox the mainstream press, leaving the seriousness of Cheung’s statement up in the air.
Minaj is currently part of Trump’s celebrity entourage as he tours the country in an attempt to boost flagging Republican hopes in the mid-term elections.
Boxing greats Floyd Mayweather Jr, Evander Holyfield, and Mike Tyson are also among Trump’s travelling supporters.
Tyson, a convicted rapist, did not travel on Air Force One at the same time as Holyfield, whose ear Tyson infamously mauled in a 1997 championship bout, according to Associated Press.
Influencer-cum-boxer Jake Paul and rocker Ted Nugent have also appeared in Trump’s train at recent rallies.
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