Nicki Minaj’s Trump gold visa card is a ‘memento’ not a visa document, White House says

Rapper Nicki Minaj’s Trump gold visa card is just a “memento” rather than representing a legal visa document, a White House official has revealed.

The Trinidadian-born musician, who admits she came to America illegally but now holds a green card, recently flaunted her “Trump Gold Card” on social media. The card provides a fast track to American citizenship for those willing to make a $1 million donation to the US Treasury and pay a $15,000 non-refundable processing fee.

In another social media post, Minaj claimed that she received her “Gold Trump card free of charge.”

But a White House official has poured cold water on Minaj’s boasts, telling The New York Times that all she actually got was a gold-colored card emblazoned with the president’s face.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, pointed out that Minaj had already been a legal permanent resident for around 20 years, and was already in the process of petitioning for citizenship, meaning she was well past the point of needing an immigration fast-track, and her souvenir gold card would serve little value.

Minaj posted about her supposed score after attending a White House event on Wednesday to promote the children’s investment accounts established under the Trump administration’s partisan spending package.

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At the event, Trump said Minaj, who in 2024 became the first female rapper to have two songs certified as Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, was “the greatest” and “the most successful female rapper in history” while praising her for reportedly “investing hundreds of thousands of dollars” into the so-called “Trump accounts”.

“Nicki makes a lot of money, and she's generously stepping up. She's investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Trump accounts to support the children and really, really the children of her incredible fans,” he said.

The Trinidadian-born musician has been a frequent presence in MAGA world in recent months since outing herself as a supporter of the president, including an appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest that drew sharp criticism from fans, LGBTQ advocates and civil rights groups.

Trump noted that Minaj has been “a big Trump supporter and a Trump fan” who has taken “a little heat on occasion” from her fans but has remained “an unbelievable supporter” nonetheless.

Joining the president on stage wearing a puffy white fur-trimmed coat, Minaj said she wasn’t sure what to say but professed herself to be Trump’s “No. 1 fan” while vowing that her support for him was “not going to change.”

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“And the hate or what people have to say, it does not affect me at all. It actually motivates me to support him more, and it's going to motivate all of us to support him more,” she said. “We're not going to let them get away with bullying him and you know, the smear campaigns, it's not going to work. OK?”

The rapper added that “God is protecting” Trump.

Following the event, Fox News star Laura Ingraham sparked mockery for confusing Minaj with her bitter rival Cardi B.

The on-air gaffe, which Ingraham was forced to quickly correct after a producer told her about the mix-up, prompted observers and critics to ridicule the pro-Trump host for mixing up MAGA's newly embraced favorite hip hop artist with another Black woman – who also just so happens to be Minaj’s longtime adversary.