Nicki Minaj opened up about her political affiliations in a new interview, revealing the reason she decided to go so public with her support for Donald Trump and his affiliates.

The rapper sat down for an interview with Eric Cortellessa for Time, which focused heavily on her recent political moves. Of course, the conversation also included her disdain for Jay-Z, saying that that Hov’s friendship with former President Barack Obama cost him “a lot.”

While the star has soft-launched some Republican ideas over the years, she didn’t outwardly speak about any political affiliation until Trump’s second term.

During her interview with Cortellessa, which was conducted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Minaj said that she was disappointed by Obama’s presidency and never liked with the assumption that Black celebrities should always vote for the Democratic candidate. She went on to link her disappointment of Obama to her longtime feud with Jay-Z, insisting that a lot of other rappers are also disillusioned by the Roc Nation founder.

“I think Jay-Z ended up costing Obama a lot, whether he knows it or not,” Nicki said. “Lots of rappers don’t like Jay-Z and were afraid to say it.”

The “Roman’s Revenge” rapper has been a longtime critic of Jay-Z and his affiliates, accusing Roc Nation of attempting to sabotage her career. She’s also alleged that he owes her somewhere between $100 to $200 million, which she has touched on multiple times throughout her various social media rants.

While talking about her pipeline into Republican politics, she brought up the time she criticized for sharing COVID-19 vaccine skepticism on social media back in 2021. At the time, she suggested that her cousin in Trinidad had “swollen testicles” after taking the vaccine, though Trinidad and Tobago’s Health Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, said in a press conference there was no evidence the vaccine could cause such swelling.

“I guess they had examined everyone’s testicles in Trinidad and came back to tell me that I was lying,” she told Time.

Nicki said that she started to drift closer to conservatism even before that, however, but didn’t feel comfortable bringing that viewpoint to the public.

“I felt that way already about him, just that I didn’t dare act like that publicly,” she added. “It’s been ingrained in everyone’s brain in the music business that we are supposed to be a Democratic family. I just knew they would not like me supporting Trump.”

Another incident that led to her public support was when her Los Angeles home was swatted several times. When the rapper sent a plea to California Governor Gavin Newsom for help in addressing the repeated swatting attacks, he never responded. When another incident occurred in April 2025, however, Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna reached out to offer her assistance.

“I was shocked,” Minaj said “I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way … That’s what made me say that I don’t care to keep this a secret anymore.”

You can read Nicki Minaj’s full interview with Time here.

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