Nicki Minaj’s increasingly weird love affair with Trump was inevitable

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Baxter, H. (2026, October 26). Nicki Minaj’s increasingly weird love affair with Trump was inevitable. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/nicki-minaj-trump-rally-ass-midterms-b3073550.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-26 · by Holly Baxter

Quick Summary

Nicki Minaj endorsed Donald Trump at a Michigan rally, expressing unwavering support despite his unconstitutional potential candidacy for another term. During the event, Trump made inappropriate comments about Minaj’s appearance and previously praised Ohio Senate candidate Jon Husted's body, focusing on his buttocks. The article highlights the unsettling nature of these exchanges in light of Trump’s disregard for democratic norms and ongoing political tensions involving figures like Representative Ilhan Omar.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-26, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

President Donald Trump has been conducting a nationwide campaign tour ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to bolster turnout for Republicans who are defending their control of Congress. Over October, Trump spent about 70 hours on Air Force One traveling between rallies across Republican-friendly areas such as Texas, Kansas, and Ohio. During these trips, he has been accompanied by an eclectic mix of passengers including Cabinet members, senior White House aides, and celebrities like boxing legends Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather.

At a recent rally in Michigan, Trump invited rapper Nicki Minaj to join him on stage, where she endorsed his presidency and said she would support him "forever." In return, Trump praised her for having a “beautiful ass,” which has become a recurring theme during his campaign speeches. The president also used the opportunity to criticize Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Nicki Minaj's shift from criticizing Trump in 2020 to endorsing him now represents a notable political realignment for an artist known for provocative performances and controversial statements. Despite her support, Trump remains constitutionally barred from seeking another presidential term after his previous two terms. The presence of celebrities like Minaj aims to energize the Republican base during this critical election period.

Written for “Trump Midterm Campaign Rallies” on 2026-10-26, grounded in this article and the 15 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans strongly left for article 108291 (high confidence, 3 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-26

Story

📰 Trump Midterm Campaign Rallies
Politics · 16 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 15% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 70
“Both articles describe President Donald Trump's comments about Nicki Minaj and her speech supporting him at a campaign rally in Detroit on the same day.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 43 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles describe Donald Trump's rally in Michigan on a specific date where he made comments about Nicki Minaj's appearance and she expressed support for him.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 21 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe Nicki Minaj joining Donald Trump at a Michigan rally on October 25, 2026.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 28 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe Nicki Minaj's appearance and pledge of support for Donald Trump at a Republican campaign rally in Michigan on the same date.”
Euronews
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 9 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe Nicki Minaj's endorsement of Donald Trump at a Republican rally in Port Huron, Michigan on October 25, 2026.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes explicit remarks made by Trump about Nicki Minaj at a rally, while Article B discusses Minaj's support for Trump and her comments at the rally but does not mention any explicit remarks.”
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 4 of 35 📰 publisher trust 59
“While both articles mention Trump's rally in Michigan and his comments about Nicki Minaj, Article A focuses on the broader content of the speech and campaign events, while Article B specifically discusses Minaj’s relationship with Trump.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
40
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
6 of 40 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
16
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3081 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Holly Baxter
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Minaj told the crowd that it was an “honor to stand with” Trump, adding: “If you run again, I will support you again.”
🔮 Log in Katie Zacharia was expected to start her job as White House press secretary on Tuesday morning with a bang.
🔮 At a rally in San Antonio on Wednesday night, the president tossed out the usual insults at James Talarico — the man who polls show might be about to become the first Democrat to win statewide in Texas in over 30 years — and then directly threatened the people who might vote for him.
🔮 Today, we opened with a lot of expected bluster about how kids with these basic savings accounts could become “rich by the time they’re 18” if they choose to put money into it and then bet on the stock market, which they could do with literally any other savings account.
🔮 But reports have circulated that she may have accidentally broken a test tube containing plague bacteria, and the hospital where she was treated has been quarantined.
🔮 But reports have circulated that she may have accidentally broken a test tube containing plague bacteria, and the hospital where she was treated has been quarantined.
🔮 Beards were out, “war fighters” were in, AMERICA WAS BACK (to getting itself entrenched into forever wars in the Middle East) and Hegseth got to preen around talking about strength and integrity and all those other things he wouldn’t know if he bumped into them in a dark alley.
🔮 Rumors swirled on Monday morning when the White House announced that President Trump would make a mystery announcement at 2 pm.
🔮 But his training in ethics and his technical knowledge meant that he was able to fairly accurately predict the conversations we would have once they were developed.
🔮 When Xi Jinping meets Donald Trump in Washington this week, there will be plenty to discuss: trade, AI, Taiwan, Iran, and the increasingly strange business of American-Chinese relations.
Also by Holly Baxter
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Holly Baxter →

Topics

Constitution Democratic Independent Michigan Ohio

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 11× Minaj PERSON · 7× Democratic NORP · 2× Michigan GPE · 2× Omar PERSON · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Independent NORP · 1× Jon Husted PERSON · 1× Ohio GPE · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

Of course, Trump is no stranger to ogling people’s bodies — I’ve seen him make remarks about young men and women’s bodies in every iteration, from more PG but strangely admiring comments during graduation ceremonies and executive order signings in the Oval Office to outright lechery in more casual contexts, right back to the infamous Hollywood Access tape — but a laser-focus on the butt has become a central part of his midterms commentary that few people saw coming.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-26
🔮 Minaj told the crowd that it was an “honor to stand with” Trump, adding: “If you run again, I will support you again.”
2026-10-26 · The Independent
Nicki Minaj’s increasingly weird love affair with Trump was inevitable · assertive framing

Claims (40 extracted, 6 hedged)

Donald Trump is an ass man, and he still doesn’t care about the Constitution. asserted
he → care → Constitution
These are the two main things we learned at a rally over the weekend. asserted
we → learn → weekend
Onstage in Michigan, the rapper promised to support Trump “forever and ever.” asserted
rapper → promise → Trump
Minaj told the crowd that it was an “honor to stand with” Trump, adding: “If you run again, I will support you again.” asserted
I → tell → you
Trump, who is constitutionally barred from being elected to a third presidential term, presumably has other things to worry about right now than the prospect of a future campaign endorsement. asserted
who → bar → endorsement
But the enthusiasm with which Minaj delivered her pledge was striking. asserted
Minaj → deliver → pledge
“I love him so much,” she said. asserted
she → love → him
In return, the president told the crowd that Minaj has “one hell of a beautiful ass” that’s “hard to miss.” asserted
that → tell → ass
He even asked her to show off her rear end to the crowd. asserted
He → ask → crowd
Possibly the weirdest thing about this exchange is that it started with Trump explaining why he’d fixated on a man’s ass at an earlier rally in Ohio. uncertain
he → start → Ohio
A few days prior, he’d praised Sen. Jon Husted’s “ass” and the rest of his athletic body. asserted
he → praise → body
Of course, Trump is no stranger to ogling people’s bodies — I’ve seen him make remarks about young men and women’s bodies in every iteration, from more PG but strangely admiring comments during graduation ceremonies and executive order signings in the Oval Office to outright lechery in more casual contexts, right back to the infamous Hollywood Access tape — but a laser-focus on the butt has become a central part of his midterms commentary that few people saw coming. asserted
people → ogle → commentary
There is something quite obviously unsettling about watching the president of the United States talk about a female celebrity's backside at a campaign rally while that celebrity stands beside him, pledging everlasting political devotion. asserted
celebrity → be → devotion
So are we that surprised that Trump is flying the singer of ‘Anaconda’ around on Air Force One, so he can talk about her ass about five seconds after calling the Democratic candidate for the local Senate seat a “jihadist”? asserted
he → fly → seat
Minaj has not always been MAGA: she openly criticized Trump’s immigration policies during his first term. asserted
she → criticize → term
In 2018, she tweeted about coming to the U.S. as “an illegal immigrant” from Trinidad at 5 years old and added that she was horrified by family separation policies that would’ve impacted her if they had been enacted at the time. asserted
they → tweet → time
It’s hard to square that Minaj with the one who declared that she loved Trump so much she wished he could flout the Constitution on Sunday, while in the background Ilhan Omar — the Democratic congresswoman who, like Minaj, came to the US with her family as a child — spoke about a recent federal raid on her house. uncertain
who → ’ → house
Arresting and/or deporting Omar has become another rally-talk obsession with Trump lately. asserted
Arresting → arrest → Trump
Never mind, though, because if they come for Omar then I’m sure they won’t come for anyone else! asserted
they → mind → anyone
On the flight to Michigan, Minaj praised Trump's current foreign policy and described him as a man who had “won three elections,” echoing his false claims that he won the 2020 presidential election. uncertain
he → praise → election
White House communications director Steven Cheung subsequently floated her as a potential press secretary, a joke that the official Trump War Room account enthusiastically amplified. asserted
account → float → that
It is tempting to dismiss this whole thing as another episode of Trumpian absurdity, a celebrity cameo designed to generate headlines in the final stretch before the midterms, with a nice bit of weird ass banter to rile everything up. asserted
It → dismiss → everything
Republican politics has increasingly become a form of personal loyalty theater, in which allegiance to Trump is demonstrated through extravagant praise, public displays of affection and performances of devotion. asserted
allegiance → become → devotion
Trump’s inner circle are looking and sounding nervous these days, opening almost all their speeches with effusive thanks to the president and closing them with toadying little phrases about how so-and-so policy could only ever have been achieved by this, the best president of all time, the cleverest and most handsome and most incredible man who ever lived. uncertain
who → look → time
Anything that could even be interpreted as a criticism — or an insufficient display of gratitude and praise — is now potentially career-ending. uncertain
that → interpret → gratitude
If you’re a politician who hasn’t paid your dues, prepare to be cut loose. asserted
who → ’re → dues
If your press conference didn’t go well, you’re out the job after less than a week. asserted
you → go → week
If you’re a reporter in the White House who asked more than a softball question, prepare to be barred from future events. asserted
who → ’re → events
So dance to the tune of Trump the savior, and dance prettily, and make it quick! asserted
it → dance → Trump
Minaj openly stating that she has no respect for the 22nd Amendment and that she would back Trump “forever” is just the logical endpoint of these sycophantic displays. asserted
she → state → displays
She is saying what is meant to be heard, even if the administration officials are better at saying it without saying it. asserted
officials → say → it
We have no reason to be surprised: Trump has flirted with these ideas for a long time. asserted
Trump → have → time
A lot of it is ragebait and trolling (see: the “Trump 2028” merch that’s been on sale on the official Trump website for months, with the tagline “Rewrite the rules with the Trump 2028 high crown hat”) but it’s never not had a kernel of truth. asserted
it → see → truth
It was 2016 when he confidently claimed at a rally that he could shoot someone in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue and not lose the backing of his supporters, and look where we are now. uncertain
we → claim → supporters
Indeed, Trump has always sought to inspire this Bonnie-and-Clyde, us-against-the-world kind of worship among a dedicated fanbase, rather than seeking to elevate policies (I mean, policies are hard work!) asserted
policies → seek → policies
He clearly much prefers “I love you” to “I respect you,” and his idea of a lasting legacy is more ‘big gold arch’ than ‘economic stability’. asserted
idea → prefer → stability
If what you really, really want is simply a fierce, romantic, star-crossed, illogical devotion, then why not add in a little admiration for the ass, too? asserted
want → want → ass
After all, every successful love story has a bit of sexual tension. asserted
story → have → tension
And if that turns your stomach, then maybe you’re in the wrong room — because here in MAGA HQ in 2026, we smile and we nod, and we leer and we grab, and of course we want your body but we also, increasingly, demand your mind. asserted
we → turn → mind
Or, as Minaj herself put it in her iconic verse in Monster, “First things first, I’ll eat your brains.” asserted
I → put → brains
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