Donald Trump was halfway through a story about another man’s butt when he spotted Nicki Minaj in the crowd.
It was Sunday, Oct. 25, at McMorran Place Arena in Port Huron, Michigan, nine days before the midterms. Trump was retelling the bit about Ohio Senate candidate Jon Husted that he’d done at an earlier rally (“I looked at his ass, and I’ve never done that with a man before”). Then he pivoted.
“By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before. Nicki Minaj,” Trump said, according to FOX 2 Detroit’s broadcast of the rally. “That’s hard to miss. Stand up. That’s hard to miss.” A moment later he added, “I hope Nicki wasn’t insulted, but we love Nicki. She’s been with us for a long time.”
About 50 minutes later, Minaj took the stage herself. What she said there is the part worth paying attention to.
What Nicki Minaj Said at Trump’s Port Huron Rally
Trump brought her up as “the queen of rap” and joked that he doesn’t like “being overshadowed,” and “this woman overshadows me, and I’m angry about it.” She opened by leading a “We love Trump” chant.
Minaj said she was “so honored to be working with this president,” that “he represents resilience,” and that “I love him so much.” She led call-and-response chants for the two Republicans on the ballot, Senate nominee Mike Rogers and governor nominee John James, and called the election “a major turning point for our country.”
Then she turned to children: “We don’t want our children to be bombarded with sex changes, right? We don’t want that for our children. We want people to leave the children alone. Leave them out of it.”
She closed with a pledge to Trump: “President Trump, it is an honor to stand with you every single time, and I will continue to support you forever and ever. If you run again, I will support you again.” The 22nd Amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, and Trump is in his second term.
When she was done, Trump told the crowd she “never looked more beautiful” and that she’s “a very, very special person. She gets it.”
Watch Minaj’s remarks in the rally broadcast, starting around 1:39:00.
Where the “Press Secretary” Clip Came From
Earlier Sunday, White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a two-minute clip of Minaj with the caption, “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!”
Cheung’s post did not announce an appointment. Minaj traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One, arriving at Selfridge Air National Guard Base before the rally.
How Often Trans Minors Actually Get Surgery
Minaj has made this argument before. On The Katie Miller Podcast in February, she said she doesn’t “have an issue with the trans part of the LGBT at all” and called herself “the biggest advocate for adults being able to do whatever the heck they want to do.” Her line was kids. “I wouldn’t even allow my 17-year-old daughter to get breast implants,” she said, and “if you wouldn’t let a child get breast implants, you’re not going to want them to have any kind of surgery.”
How common is that surgery? A 2024 JAMA Network Open study looked at 2019 insurance claims covering about 22.8 million minors. Researchers counted 85 gender-affirming surgical procedures associated with a trans or gender-diverse diagnosis. Of those, 82 were chest-related. None involved children 12 or younger.
In a separate comparison of breast reductions among cisgender boys and trans or gender-diverse minors, cisgender boys accounted for 146 of 151 procedures, or 97%.
The study couldn’t count surgeries paid for out of pocket, and billing codes could misclassify patients or treatments. These figures describe insured care in 2019, not every operation performed today.
What About Her “19 Times” Claim?
On the podcast, Minaj also claimed a child is “19 times more likely to commit suicide if they have a surgery before they’re an adult.” She did not name a study.
A 2011 Swedish study reported a 19.1-fold adjusted risk of death by suicide among 324 people who underwent sex reassignment between 1973 and 2003, compared with general-population controls. It did not compare children who had surgery with children who did not.
The authors cautioned that their study does not “address whether sex reassignment is an effective treatment or not.” It cannot establish that surgery caused the difference or support Minaj’s claim about treatment before adulthood.
Minaj’s Support for Trump Predates This Rally
Minaj appeared at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix in December 2025. In January, she called for Don Lemon’s arrest over his ICE protest coverage.
Her remarks offered no medical evidence and did not address trans adults. The general election is Nov. 3. Follow Gayety’s LGBTQ+ politics coverage.