Rapper Nicki Minaj has teamed up with the Trump administration to highlight the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Minaj, 42, will join the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, on Tuesday at the UN headquarters in New York, to give a speech during a special event moderated by Harris Faulkner.
“NICKIMINAJ is not only arguably the greatest female recording artist, but also a principled individual who refuses to remain silent in the face of injustice,” Waltz posted on X.
Highlights
- Nicki Minaj will speak at the UN with U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz to highlight alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
- Minaj thanked Waltz for the opportunity, saying she and her fans won’t stand down against injustice and see a bigger purpose.
- Trump labeled Nigeria a 'country of concern' over Christian killings, threatening military action if violence doesn’t stop.
- Nigerian President Tinubu denied religious intolerance claims, affirming constitutional protections and cooperation with the U.S.
Nicki Minaj has teamed up with the Trump administration
Image credits: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
“I'm grateful she's leveraging her massive platform to spotlight the atrocities against Christians in Nigeria, and I look forward to standing with her as we discuss the steps the President and his administration are taking to end the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters.”
Minaj shared Waltz’s tweet, writing, “Ambassador, I am so grateful to be entrusted with an opportunity of this magnitude. I do not take it for granted. It means more than you know.
“The Barbz [Minaj’s fans] & I will never stand down in the face of injustice. We’ve been given our influence by God. There must be a bigger purpose.”
“Influence from God? Come on. This isn’t a divine mission, it’s PR cosplay,” one person wrote. “The ‘Barbz vs injustice’ act is getting tired power doesn’t equal purpose, and fan armies aren’t a moral compass.”
Another added: “‘I will never stand in the face of injustice’ while siding with Trump is crazy. Pack it up. Take your hypocrisy elsewhere.”
It comes weeks after Minaj publicly supported a Truth Social post made by Donald Trump, in which he claimed “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria.”
Image credits: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
“Thousands of Christians are being killed,” Trump wrote on November 1. “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
The president used the post to designate Nigeria a “country of concern” as he demanded that something be done.
“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries,” Trump added. “We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!”
Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, shared the post on her X account, saying reading the post “made me feel a deep sense of gratitude.”
“No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other,” Minaj added. “Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice.”
Trump told the Department of War to prepare for action
He further instructed his Department of War to prepare for possible action, warning, “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.”
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, without naming Trump but mentioning the U.S., said in a statement after the remarks that Nigeria “is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” Tinubu said.
Nigeria’s security crisis is widely described as severe, but experts caution that the pattern of violence cannot be reduced to a simple campaign against one religious group.
While Christian communities have suffered deadly attacks in some regions, analysts note that Muslims, traditional-religion communities, and other civilians face similar violence, often from the same armed groups.
Much of the bloodshed is driven by local conflicts, criminal gangs, and extremist factions whose victims cut across religious lines, as per The Guardian.
Nigerian officials have also repeatedly rejected claims of systematic persecution, insisting the state is confronting a multidimensional threat that affects citizens across religious lines.