“We’re not going to let them get away with bullying him and, you know, the smear campaigns, it’s not going to work.
“He has a lot of force behind him, and God is protecting him. Amen.”
Minaj wore a thick floor-length white fur coat with a high collar, over a flowy light canary yellow dress.
Trump kissed her on the cheek and held hands with her for 30 seconds as fellow celebrity guest speaker Kevin O’Leary addressed attendees.
“I am going to let my nails grow, because I love those nails,” Trump later joked, referring to Minaj’s two-inch glittered nails.
“She’s so good. She’s been MAGA, what can I say? She’s been with us all the way,” he said.
The Super Bass artist did not publicly endorse Trump during his three presidential campaigns.
She had previously spoken out against his stance on immigration, saying she would not “jump on the Donald Trump bandwagon”.
“I get that a lot of people don’t like him for obvious reasons, but what stuck with me was the children being taken away from their parents when they came into this country,” she said in a 2020 interview.
She recalled her journey to America as an immigrant trying to “escape poverty”.
“I couldn’t imagine a little child going through all of that, trying to get to another country because they didn’t have money in their country, or whether you’re fleeing from war.”
Last month, the one-time American Idol judge made a surprise appearance at a Turning Point rally, sitting down for an interview with Erika Kirk, wife of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
During the segment, she described Trump as “handsome” and “dashing”, adding that she had the “utmost respect and admiration” for him.
“I don’t know if he even knows this but he’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys,” she said.
Minaj pledged up to US$300,000 ($494,600) to Trump Accounts, a pilot programme which will deposit US$1000 into an investment account for eligible children born from 2025 to 2028.
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