Nicki Minaj’s Trump flattery has won her not only pals inside the White House, but also a $1 million Trump Gold Card that has reportedly turned out to be worthless.
The rapper flaunted the gift bestowed upon her by the “wonderful, gracious, charming President” after she spent the majority of the week positioning herself firmly in the center of MAGA world.
The 43-year-old star, originally from the Caribbean twin-island of Trinidad and Tobago, and raised in Queens, popped up earlier this week at an event supporting the president’s ‘Trump Accounts’ initiative. She starred in a TikTok with the soon-to-be octogenarian and snapped selfies with most of his close allies (Sorry, Ted Cruz.) She also showed up at the premiere of Melania Trump’s eponymous documentary in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Her reward for all of this star-spangled flattery? A Trump Gold Card, a “visa based upon an individual’s ability to provide a substantial benefit to the United States,” according to the administration.
“Gold Trump card free of charge,” she boasted in a bizarre X post alongside a picture of the horror-film murderous doll Chucky flashing the middle finger. Minaj, who has said previously that she came to the country illegally, also said she was now “finalizing” her citizenship paperwork.
But if she really believed she’d been given a Trump Gold Card, she’s in for a rude awakening.
The card she got is a dud, a fake, a mere “memento,” according to an anonymous White House official who spoke to the New York Times. It is not a “visa document,” the official revealed.
The flex from Minaj rings hollow, anyway, as she already appears to have legal status. A Homeland Security Department official said the musician had been a legal permanent resident for around 20 years, meaning she was already eligible to petition for citizenship.
The Gold Card allows wealthy foreigners who have passed a background check to apply for EB-1 or EB-2 visas—usually reserved for those with “extraordinary ability”—once they have paid $1 million on top of a $15,000 processing fee to the Department of Homeland Security.
However, legal experts have said courts could still decide that using Trump’s Gold Card route to citizenship is illegal because Congress has not approved it. If that were to happen, applicants risk not having their $1 million fee returned.
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