Nicki Minaj surprised fans earlier in 2025 when she revealed that she’s actually a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. She has even described herself as his “number one fan.” And yet, during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump made her a punchline.
His joke has sparked a ton of criticism on social media.
The joke was about the WHCD shooting—and twerking.
Trump: But after hearing the gunshots, many people yelled, “get down, get down” which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking. pic.twitter.com/ypi1omzLs7
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 25, 2026
Yes, really. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was rescheduled after gunshots were fired at the initial dinner in April. Trump addressed the shooting at the rescheduled event on July 24, and made a joke about his “number one fan,” Nicki Minaj, in the process.
“After hearing the gunshots, many people yelled, ‘Get down! Get down!’ which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking,” Trump joked. “Do you believe it? Get down. She’s the only one that really understood what that meant.”
For one thing, critics couldn’t believe the actual president would say something like this. “no way he said this on stage?” someone questioned when the clip was shared on X. Many others were certain it had to be fake when they first heard about it, only to watch the clip and discover that it truly did happen.
“Every day it feels like we are watching AI but no this is an actual statement from a sitting President,” someone else commented.
Beyond that, people had a lot to say about Trump making the joke about Minaj specifically.
smh they’re all laughing at her https://t.co/3WtkX4UsG7
— Dolly (@DOLLDILAH) July 25, 2026
Critics accused Trump and those who laughed at his joke of “laughing at the token black lady” and “throwing her under the bus already.”
Someone called the joke “proof that she’s been nothing but a caricature of a black woman to him all this time.” Another person added, “Mind you they’re laughing at her and not with her…. I really hate this for her.”
The fact that Minaj supports Trump has always been baffling to many of her fans, but this joke left people with even more questions. “this is racist asf i still don’t understand how can she support him,” one critic said.
“Imagine selling your soul and this is what you get in return,” someone else added. Although people were disgusted by the joke, not all of Trump’s critics were surprised—because it seemed true to character for him.
“This is racially charged but what could you expect from this racist clown?” a commenter noted.
And the fact that he would joke about one of his loyal supporters didn’t surprise people either. “Doesn’t matter how much sucking up you do and how beneficial you are, the f—er will stab you in the back verbally and/or otherwise,” someone added.
People also thought back to Trump’s recent comments about Minaj.
How I’ll be looking @ the President next time I see him. https://t.co/dVw3CpCqfP pic.twitter.com/jEUOdOjG3p
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 25, 2026
Just weeks ago, Trump introduced Minaj at a White House event and said she’s “respected by everybody.”
“We also have a woman that is so respected and so hot and so great,” he said earlier this month. “And such a great friend of — I don’t say conservative, I say of common sense. She’s a fantastic person, and she’s a woman that’s respected by everybody, and she’s got real talent: Nicki Minaj.”
At the same event, he also called his Small Business Administration Administrator, Kelly Loeffler, by Minaj’s name, which some critics mentioned after he made the joke about the rapper at the WHCD. “Two weeks ago, he thought Nicki Minaj was the head of the Small Business Administration,” someone commented in response to the recent joke.
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