Trump comments on Nicki Minaj's behind at Michigan rally, she backs Republicans

A rally in Port Huron

Donald Trump spoke for almost two hours at a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on 25 October, backing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. Nicki Minaj, a rapper who has publicly backed Trump since 2025, flew with him to Michigan on Air Force One and was in the crowd. Early in the speech Trump attacked Rogers' Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, calling him a jihadist and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and said he should pass through a metal detector at the Capitol if elected. El-Sayed is Muslim and has firmly denied any link to the Islamist organization.

Remarks about Nicki Minaj

Trump returned to comments he had made earlier in October at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, about Republican Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, who is running for re-election. He said he had looked at Husted's behind and had never done that with a man. Turning to Minaj in the audience, he said he had also looked at her behind, that it was hard not to notice, and asked her to stand. She rose, waved and gave a thumbs up as the crowd cheered. Trump then said he hoped she had not been offended and that he and his supporters loved her. Coverage reported no response from Minaj to the remarks about her body.

Minaj's speech and the Air Force One video

On stage, Minaj praised Trump's resilience and said he had changed the country's energy and given Americans a future to look forward to. She urged Michigan voters to elect the Republican candidates Mike Rogers and John James, saying the country was at a critical turning point. She said she was honored to work with the president and that she loved him so much she would support him forever. Earlier, on Air Force One, she appeared in a video with White House communications director Stephen Cheung in which she jokingly went through an interview for the press secretary post. Cheung posted the clip on social media on 25 October with a caption suggesting the White House had found its new press secretary. Trump's official War Room account reposted it and wrote that the title sounds very nice.

Press secretary speculation

The White House press secretary post is still vacant after a departure. Some of Trump's closest allies are reportedly considering Minaj for a government appointment after the rally. Her public role in the campaign has grown since she first backed Trump in 2025, after she had criticized some of his first-term policies.

Greenland claims and midterm stakes

Trump also said the United States holds Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, and that the two countries manage it jointly under an agreement he described as very good, with no time limit and no restrictions. Last month he announced a deal that would give the United States permanent access to the island and permission to build military bases there without Danish approval. That agreement still needs approval from Denmark's parliament. The Michigan Senate race is one of the contests that will determine which party controls Congress for the rest of Trump's term. Former president Barack Obama campaigned alongside El-Sayed on Saturday, 24 October, in one of the first such events of this campaign season. El-Sayed has criticized similar Trump statements as Islamophobic and, in a campaign advertisement, accused the president of trying to distract voters from rising costs at the gas pump, in supermarkets and in healthcare.