Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj said Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed her toward publicly supporting President Trump after he “completely ignored” her pleas for help to protect her Beverly Hills mansion.
Minaj said she reached out to the governor on Twitter and through intermediaries following several swatting incidents at her $20 million home in 2022 and 2023, but he never responded.
“He just completely ignored me, with all the money I spent in taxes,” she told Time.
Minaj publicly came out in support of Trump in late 2025, appearing alongside Erika Kirk at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest convention.
There, she controversially and complimentarily described Vice President JD Vance as an “assassin,” as Erika still mourned Charlie’s assassination. Minaj also referred to Newsom as “Newscum,” Trump’s nickname for the governor.
The “Super Bass” rapper said she had been titling toward Trump for awhile, but wouldn’t “dare act like that publicly” over fears of retribution in the music industry.
“I just knew they would not like me supporting Trump,” she said.
After Newsom’s snub, Minaj heard from Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who connected the musician with federal law enforcement and helped her with private security.
“I was shocked,” Minaj said of Luna’s assistance. “I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way.”
“That’s what made me say that I don’t care to keep this a secret anymore,” she added.
Minaj also said the criticism she received over her outspokenness regarding the persecution of Christians in Nigeria also led her to be more open about her politics.
“If they would have left me alone, maybe I would not have done so much,” she said.
Minaj noted that other celebrities also support Trump but “don’t say it.”
“Sometimes you just need one brave person to get the brunt of the impact. I think I am the catalyst for that change,” she said.
Minaj hasn’t been shy about expressing her feelings about Newsom.
“Gavin is the cute boy who got everything handed to him b/c of how cute & sexy & hot & smoking he was. Oohhh look @‘m,” she wrote in a December 2025 X post. “Sitting there in that suit with the sneakers on. He thinks he’s Tom Cruise only difference is, his next mission IS impossible.”
The California Post contacted Newsom’s office for comment.
