Trump Admin Suggests Nikki Minaj Could Fill Key Position

Did President Donald Trump find his new White House press secretary?

No one knows if the White House is serious or just trolling—but they are grabbing major headlines in the process.

Rapper Nicki Minaj found herself at the center of unexpected White House speculation Sunday after President Donald Trump’s communications director jokingly suggested the music superstar could fill a key administration role.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung posted a video showing himself conducting what appeared to be a mock job interview with Minaj aboard Air Force One as the rapper traveled with Trump to Michigan for a midterm campaign rally.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!” Cheung wrote while tagging Minaj, prompting the official White House account to respond with an eyes emoji.

Minaj joined in on the joke by reposting Cheung’s message with an American flag and grinning face with sweat emoji, although neither she nor the administration announced that she was actually being considered for the position.

The roughly two-minute video showed Cheung questioning Minaj about Trump’s handling of the economy, foreign policy, campaign schedule, and polling as the pair sat across from one another aboard the presidential aircraft.

Minaj credited Trump’s background as a businessman when asked about the economy, arguing that his experience dealing with financial challenges gave him the skills necessary to manage the country’s economic affairs.

“Well, we have a president who understands economics,” Minaj said before pointing to Trump’s business career and financial experience.

Cheung then asked whether anyone worked harder than Trump on the campaign trail, and Minaj quickly answered, “Absolutely not,” while praising the president’s willingness to travel extensively for Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 elections.

Minaj said Trump could spend the remainder of his presidency relaxing but instead was campaigning for other Republicans because he wanted the party to succeed in the midterms.

The mock interview eventually turned to election polling, with Minaj dismissing surveys unfavorable to Republicans and invoking Hillary Clinton’s unexpected defeat in the 2016 presidential election.

The lighthearted exchange attracted additional attention because the Trump administration is again searching for a permanent public face at the White House podium following a turbulent stretch in the press office.

Former press secretary Karoline Leavitt left the administration in August, and Trump subsequently selected conservative commentator Katie Zacharia to replace her.

Zacharia’s tenure lasted only five days, however, leaving the White House searching again for someone to fill one of the administration’s most visible communications positions.

The White House has not announced that Minaj is formally under consideration, and available reporting indicates Cheung’s suggestion was intended as a joke rather than confirmation of an impending appointment.

Still, the video represented the latest sign of Minaj’s increasingly close relationship with Trump and his political operation.

The Grammy-nominated rapper has emerged as one of Trump’s most prominent celebrity supporters after publicly moving closer to the president and his administration during his second term.

Minaj appeared alongside Trump in January at the Trump Accounts Summit at the Treasury Department, where she praised the administration’s initiative designed to establish investment accounts for American children.

She argued at the event that children without wealthy parents or relatives could benefit from receiving an early financial foundation and said the program could provide opportunities she did not have growing up.

Her political evolution has been particularly notable because Minaj previously criticized Trump-era immigration policies, including family separations, while referencing her own experience coming to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago as a child.

Her relationship with Trump’s team has since changed substantially, and she has increasingly appeared alongside administration officials and publicly praised the president’s policies.

Sunday’s appearance took that relationship another step further as Minaj accompanied Trump aboard Air Force One before joining him during his campaign trip to Michigan.

The president was visiting the state as part of an aggressive final campaign push for Republican candidates ahead of the midterms, with control of Congress at stake on November 3.

For now, Minaj becoming White House press secretary remains a playful suggestion rather than an actual personnel announcement, but Cheung’s video ensured that the rapper’s name became part of the conversation surrounding one of the most closely watched vacancies in the Trump administration.