US President Donald Trump hosted leaders from the Black community to mark Black History Month at the White House on Wednesday, February 18. As he delivered his reception speech, he recalled his January 28 interaction with Nicki Minaj, when he commented on her beauty.
Minaj met the POTUS during the rollout of Trump Accounts, a government-supported trust fund for babies in America. At the time, the Super Bass rapper called herself the “president’s number one fan.”
Trump’s choice of words for Minaj, who was not present at yesterday’s event, has drawn backlash.
“The way he talks is cringe,” opined a netizen, while another added, “He is mentally five years old.”
Donald Trump praised Nicki Minaj at the Black History Month event, alongside his other friends of color
Trump began the event by introducing his only Black Cabinet member, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner.
He then brought up White House Pardon Czar Alice Johnson to speak, followed by former Fox News commentator-turned-Justice Department lawyer Leo Terrell and Alveda King, the anti-abortion activist and niece of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Trump then proceeded to name the athletes and entertainers whom he counts among his friends, including Nicki Minaj and former boxing world champion Mike Tyson.
“Mike Tyson, boy, I tell you, Mike has been loyal to me. Whenever they come out, they say, ‘Trump is a racist,’ but Mike Tyson goes, ‘He is not a racist, he is my friend,’” Trump said.
“He has been there from the beginning, good times and bad. But Mike Tyson is a great guy, and he was so loyal. Always been loyal.”
Of Minaj, the president said, “I love Nicki Minaj. She was here a couple of weeks ago. She is so beautiful. I said, ‘Nicki, you are so beautiful.’”
Trump further shared how Minaj did not want to talk about the size of her nails, saying, “Her nails are that long. I said, ‘Nicki, are they real?’ She did not want to get into that.”
“But she was so beautiful and so great,” he added.
Others listed by Trump were former NFL players Herschel Walker, the late Jim Brown, and Lawrence Taylor.
Many social media users saw Trump’s compliment of Minaj as not serious
“He is lowkey trolling her,” said one, while another added, “I find this humorous. He should be a comedian, not a president.”
“He loves anyone who likes him,” a third remarked.
A fourth commentator expressed that Trump would stop liking Minaj “the day she says something negative about him.”
Another agreed, asserting that if she were not on his side, Trump would have called her “an illegal alien and a danger to America.”
Many, meanwhile, suggested Minaj was the president’s crush, with one advising Trump to “not talk indirectly, just say it out of your heart, you love her.”
The Black History Month event came just a week after Trump drew outrage for sharing a video of the Obamas that many deemed racist
The video shared by Trump on his Truth Social account on February 5 showed former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed onto apes in a jungle.
The clip was pulled after 12 hours, but before that was met with criticism from numerous high-profile figures.
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, a close ally of Trump, wrote via X: “Hoping it was fake because it is the most racist thing I have seen out of this White House.”
Trump on Nicki Minaj:
Her skin so beautiful. I said, “Nicki, you are so beautiful.”
Her nails are that long, and I said, “Nicki, are they real?” She didn’t want to get into that. pic.twitter.com/AYKHGQl2Kc
— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 18, 2026
Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, said: “The president’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately, with an apology offered.”
Obama responded to the same during an interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, saying the “shame” and “decorum” that once guided public officials are now lost.
“He’s a very strange guy,” a netizen remarked about Trump
