Nicki Minaj took to X on Wednesday (January 28) to show off one of Donald Trump’s coveted “Gold Cards” after making a surprise appearance at the Treasury Department’s Trump Accounts summit.
The Queens rapper held hands with President Trump on stage and declared herself his “number one fan” during the Washington DC event.
Trump launched the Trump Accounts initiative at the summit to provide $1,000 investment accounts for every American child born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.
The program aims to give kids a financial head start with accounts that could potentially grow to $2.7 million by age 55. Nicki Minaj appeared alongside Trump to announce her $300,000 contribution to the program.
But the real buzz came when Nicki Minaj posted photos of her Trump Gold Card on social media.
Welp… pic.twitter.com/c5v8ztVVLR
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) January 28, 2026
The Gold Card program, established by Executive Order 14351 in September 2025, provides an expedited path to permanent residency for foreign nationals who make substantial financial gifts to the U.S. government.
Individual applicants must contribute $1 million, while corporations can donate $2 million on behalf of someone.
Recipients still undergo standard background checks and processing, but the financial contribution serves as additional evidence of eligibility.
For Nicki Minaj, the Gold Card could provide a solution to her long-standing immigration status.
The Trinidad-born rapper revealed in September 2024 that she’s not a U.S. citizen despite paying “millions of dollars” in taxes over the years. She came to America as an undocumented immigrant at age five with her mother, Carol, in 1987.
“I was born on a beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago. But I’ve been in the States for many years,” Nicki Minaj said during a TikTok Live session. “You would think that with the millions of dollars that I’ve paid in taxes to this country that I would have been given an honorary citizenship many, many, many thousands of years ago.”
According to Nicki Minaj, she currently holds a green card, which grants permanent residency but not citizenship. Her political stance shifted dramatically over recent years.
In 2020, she said she wouldn’t “jump on the Trump bandwagon,” but by December 2025, she was praising both Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at conservative events.
Her appearance alongside Erika Kirk at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest sparked controversy and prompted multiple deportation petitions.
Over 150,000 people have signed various Change.org petitions calling for Minaj’s deportation to Trinidad and Tobago. Now, the Gold Card could provide Minaj with a clearer path to full citizenship while maintaining her current legal status.
If Nicki Minaj’s Gold Card is legitimate, she won’t need to worry about the deportation petitions that have gained momentum since her conservative political turn.
