From ‘beautiful skin’ to ‘one hell of a beautiful a**’: Trump’s crass comments about Nicki Minaj keep getting worse

President Donald Trump made a crude remark about rapper Nicki Minaj at a campaign rally on Sunday night. He said he had looked at “one hell of a beautiful a**” and named her. Then he told her to stand up. The crowd cheered. The clip has since spread across social media and entertainment sites.

The remark came on October 25 at a Republican rally at McMorran Place in Port Huron, Michigan. The event was held to support Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers. The midterm elections are days away, so the rally was part of a late push for votes.

Trump said he had looked at one hell of a beautiful a** before, and that it belonged to Nicki Minaj. He added that she was hard to miss and told her to stand.

He did not stop there. He said he hoped Minaj was not insulted, and that the crowd loved her because she had been with them for a long time. Then he went back to his story.

The story behind the joke

The comment was a tie-in to another tale Trump has been telling at rallies. At a North Carolina rally last Tuesday, Trump said he had been studying a man’s body. He said he had never studied a man’s body before and that it was not his thing. He then described looking at the man’s rear and his legs.

The man in question is Husted, a Republican candidate. Trump repeated the Husted anecdote on Sunday before Minaj took the stage. At an earlier stop, he described the man’s rear as a pile of muscle.

The Daily Beast noted that Trump has turned his focus on Republican rear ends toward a woman. That is the context behind the Minaj line.

How Trump introduced Nicki Minaj

Trump also spoke about her once she took the stage. He said he does not like being overshadowed, and that Minaj overshadows him, which he said made him angry. The line drew laughter.

Minaj had flown to the event with the president on Air Force One, and she shared video of the trip. That detail shows how close the two have become. She was not a distant guest. She was part of his traveling party.

Who is Nicki Minaj in this story?

Minaj was born Onika Maraj in Trinidad and raised in Queens, New York. She became one of the biggest names in hip-hop in the 2010s. For years, she was not linked to Republican politics. That changed in the past year.

She first spoke in support of Trump in November 2025, when she praised him for drawing attention to the killing of Christians in Nigeria. Her support grew fast after that.

On January 28, she appeared at the Treasury Department’s Trump Accounts Summit in Washington. She held the president’s hand on stage and called herself probably his number one fan. She said she would give between $150,000 and $300,000 toward her fans’ Trump Accounts. Trump Accounts are a government-backed savings plan for children.

She has kept up the pace since then. She spoke at a Turning Point USA event in December. She also defended Trump against California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife.

A pattern of public comments

Sunday’s remark is the latest in a string of public comments from Trump about Minaj.

In early February, he called her fantastic and a winner. On February 18, at a Black History Month event, he said he loved Minaj and called her beautiful. He praised her skin and said her nails were very long. He said he asked whether they were real, and that she did not want to get into it. Critics called those remarks strange. Some online commenters called them creepy, while others laughed them off.

In July, at a Rose Garden luncheon, he called her “so hot.” Later that month, at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he told a joke that had Minaj twerking after gunshots. That joke split the audience. Minaj replied with a Chucky image.

Why her body is a public topic

Minaj has spoken about her body before. In 2022, she said on the Joe Budden Podcast that she had received “a** shots.” Comedians have used that fact in jokes. Deon Cole did so at the <a href="https://comicvibe.com/the-6-best-hot-holiday-toys-of-2026-to-shop-now/” title=”The 6 best hot holiday toys of 2026 to shop now”>2026 NAACP Awards, in a prayer that drew heavy laughter.

Trevor Noah did the same at the Grammys in February. In a Trump voice, he said he had the biggest a**. The joke worked because the public already linked Minaj and Trump.

Cheers, but also questions

The crowd in Port Huron responded with cheers. One outlet said the remark drew cheers from the crowd and highlighted Trump’s informal, often controversial speaking style. Supporters see it as classic Trump. They say he is blunt and unfiltered, and that Minaj is a friend who can take a joke. Some conservative outlets framed it as a playful shout-out.

Critics see it differently. They say a president should not describe a woman’s body at a campaign event. They point out that Minaj is a guest and a political ally, not an opponent. They argue that praise like this still treats her as a body first and a supporter second.

There is also a racial angle that came up in earlier episodes. Some commentators argued after the July dinner that Trump’s humor about Minaj leaned on old stereotypes about Black women. The Michigan remark gave that debate new fuel.

At the time of writing, there is no public response from Nicki Minaj.

The politics of the moment

The midterms in the US are close. Trump is traveling to push Republican candidates in key states. Michigan is one of them. The Senate race there features Mike Rogers, and control of the chamber may hinge on a few close contests.

Minaj is useful on that trail. She has a huge fan base, including many young and Black voters who do not usually attend Republican rallies. Her presence draws cameras. It also draws criticism from Democrats and from fellow artists.

Actor Billy Porter blasted her for backing Trump. Other celebrities have done the same. That backlash has not slowed her down.

• Donald Trump
• Nicki Minaj