Nicki Minaj revealed Wednesday that President Donald Trump has provided her with a Trump Gold Card following her highly-publicized appearance at the Treasury Department’s Trump Accounts Summit.
The 43-year-old Trinidad-born artist posted an image of the gold card, emblazoned with Trump’s face, a bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty, on the social media platform X.
She later clarified that she received the card “free of charge,” despite its standard price tag of $1 million plus a $15,000 processing fee.
Minaj later tweeted she is finalizing her citizenship paperwork, indicating her Gold Card may grant immediate citizenship eligibility.
By standard criteria, eligibility comes after five years of residence with a Gold Card, but her decades in the US may offset this. Minaj has lived in the US since arriving from Trinidad and Tobago at age five to join her mother, Carol Maraj, who held a green card to attend Monroe College in the Bronx.
Attorney Mona Shah speculates that Minaj likely already obtained a green card decades ago. Shah points to evidence, including Minaj’s political contributions to American politicians, which are only legal for green card holders or US citizens, and also notes Minaj’s years of international travel without apparent visa issues or port-of-entry problems.
Shah further notes that since Minaj’s mother held a green card during her childhood, Minaj would have been eligible for derivative green card status as a minor dependent. In this case, the Trump Gold Card may not be about establishing legal residency, says Shah, but rather about expediting her path to citizenship beyond the standard timeline.
From Illegal Immigration to Legal Status
The rapper’s immigration journey has been complex and publicly documented. In a 2018 Facebook post that has recently resurfaced, Minaj wrote that she came to this country as an illegal immigrant at age five, expressing horror at the thought of being separated from her parents in a strange place.
That post was accompanied by images of detained migrant children during Trump’s first presidential term, reflecting empathy for families affected by hardline immigration policies.
More recently, during a September 2024 TikTok Live session, Minaj revealed she had never formally obtained US citizenship despite her decades-long residence and substantial tax contributions. She expressed belief that she deserved honorary citizenship, given the millions of dollars she has paid in taxes, while noting her continued status as a non-citizen born in Trinidad and Tobago.
Minaj’s Political Realignment and MAGA Support
Minaj’s vocal support for the Trump administration represents a shift from her earlier public statements. During a December appearance at Turning Point USA’s convention, she praised Vice President JD Vance and the late Charlie Kirk, describing the administration as full of people with heart and soul.
At the Trump Accounts Summit, she told the audience that backlash against her political views only motivates her to support Trump more.
The rapper’s change of heart has not gone unnoticed, with two online petitions calling for her deportation garnering more than 120,000 signatures. Yet Minaj has remained resolute in her support of Trump.
The reasons for Minaj’s political shift remain unclear; her MAGA rebrand coincided with her efforts to secure legal immigration status, which may suggest the overlap is more than coincidental.
Some reports have speculated that she might be seeking presidential pardons for family members with criminal convictions, including her husband Kenneth Petty, a registered sex offender, and her brother Jelani Maraj, currently incarcerated for predatory sexual assault.
IMI Pros Who Can Help with the Gold Card
