The Trump administration has reportedly recruited rapper and musician Nicki Minaj in an apparent effort to back its proposed invasion of Nigeria to stop purported persecution of Christians.
“U.S. envoy to the U.N. Mike Waltz and rap superstar Nicki Minaj will deliver remarks early this week on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria,” wrote Times political reporter Eric Cortellessa Sunday in a social media post on X. “The unexpected collaboration was arranged by Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz, who will also speak at the Tuesday event.”
Trump first issued a threat to deploy the U.S. military into Nigeria earlier this month on social media, vowing to go in “guns-a-blazing” to “completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
Acts of extremist violence have erupted in Nigeria in recent months, which some Republican lawmakers have alleged to be a “genocide” of Christians, or violence that "borders on genocide." Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) has said that more than 7,000 Christians have been killed in 2025 alone.
However, those numbers have been “widely disputed” among experts, ABC News reported, who’ve said that both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria have been victims of violent attacks, which Al Jazeera described as “multi-faceted” and “driven by ethnic rivalries” and “land disputes,” with religion being “often secondary.”
Trump’s push to invade Nigeria is also alleged to be tied directly to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who, when heading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, cut aid to the African nation, which New York Times columnist Nick Kristof argued had killed “far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists” had.
Scoop: U.S. envoy to the UN @michaelgwaltz and rap superstar @NICKIMINAJ will deliver remarks early this week on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
The unexpected collaboration was arranged by Trump advisor @AlexBruesewitz, who will also speak at the Tuesday event.
— Eric Cortellessa (@EricCortellessa) November 16, 2025
