Nicki Minaj Says She Turned MAGA After Gavin Newsom ‘Completely Ignored Me’

BreakingBusinessNicki Minaj Says She Turned MAGA After Gavin Newsom ‘Completely Ignored Me’ByConor Murray,Forbes Staff. Murray is a Forbes news reporter covering entertainment trends.Follow AuthorMay 14, 2026, 10:22am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineRapper Nicki Minaj explained her surprising rightward political shift in an interview with Time, outlining a variety of reasons she became a public supporter of President Donald Trump and laying blame on Democratic figures like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former President Barack Obama for alienating her. Nicki Minaj became a vocal Trump supporter late last year. (Photo by Caylo Seals/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKey FactsMinaj, who became an open Trump supporter in late 2025 and has since appeared with the president on multiple occasions, told Time she had identified with Trump for a while, but “didn’t dare act like that publicly” because Democratic politics are “ingrained in everyone’s brain in the music business.”An early incident that pushed Minaj rightward was when her Los Angeles mansion was targeted by multiple swatting calls between 2022 and 2023, prompting her to request a meeting with Newsom, whom she alleged “completely ignored me, with all the money I pay in taxes.”But after an April 2025 swatting incident, Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna offered to connect Minaj with law enforcement and private security, which Minaj said helped encourage her to go public with her political views, as she had “never seen anyone in politics treat me that way.”Minaj’s discontent with Democrats grew during the 2024 election, telling Time she found a speech Obama made at a rally for former Vice President Kamala Harris—in which he suggested some Black men did not want to vote for a woman—to be condescending.Trump campaign advisor Alex Bruesewitz, who is largely credited with connecting Trump to podcasters, connected Minaj with the adm...