What We Know About Trump's Nicki Minaj Comments at Michigan Rally

Donald Trump asked a crowd in Port Huron, Michigan, to compliment rapper Nicki Minaj's rear end during a Sunday rally for Senate candidate Mike Rogers, according to the Guardian. The remarks followed similar comments Trump made earlier in October about Ohio senator Jon Husted. Here is what the reporting shows, and what it does not.

What did Trump say about Nicki Minaj at the Michigan rally?

Trump encouraged the crowd to compliment Minaj's behind, describing it as "hard to miss," the Guardian reported. The remark came during a rally held to support Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan's closely watched midterm race. The Guardian's account, filed by reporter Victoria Bekiempis, does not include a full verbatim transcript of every line Trump used about Minaj, only the paraphrase that the comment was "hard to miss" and that Trump was reiterating what the outlet called his "apparent love for buxom bums." Minaj herself attended the event, appearing alongside Rogers, his wife Kristi Clemens Rogers, Republican gubernatorial nominee John James, and David Beamer, the father of Todd Beamer, per a Reuters photograph published with the story.

What did Trump say about Jon Husted earlier in October?

Trump's Minaj comments were an extension of remarks he made earlier in October about Husted, a former college football player. According to the Guardian, Trump said: "I don't do this with men very often. I started examining his body, because I didn't know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass and I looked at the whole — and then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands. He's got these, like, claws." Trump then told Husted, "You are a great athlete. Congratulations." The Michigan rally comment about Minaj was framed, in Trump's telling, as a continuation of that earlier Husted remark rather than an unrelated aside.

Why was Trump campaigning in Michigan, and who else was there?

Trump traveled to Port Huron to rally support for Rogers ahead of November's midterm elections. The Guardian reported the Michigan Senate contest between Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed remains "neck and neck" as both parties compete for control of Congress. The event doubled as a show of Republican strength in the state, with John James — the party's gubernatorial nominee — appearing alongside Rogers. The presence of Minaj and Beamer's father added unusual texture to a campaign stop otherwise built around turnout messaging for a tight Senate race, though the source material does not explain why either guest was invited or what role, if any, they played beyond attending.

How did Trump respond to the media coverage of his remarks?

Trump pushed back the same afternoon, calling the media reaction to his Husted comments "fake news" and arguing that coverage ignored the athletic context behind them, according to the Guardian. Trump said he had just learned Husted played college football when he was "looking at him up and down, and I'm studying him." He described the follow-up joke as made "in fun," telling the crowd, "I said: I looked at his ass, and I've never done that with a man before." The Guardian's report ends with that line, without further Trump comment on the Minaj remarks specifically.

What is not yet confirmed?

Several details remain outside the scope of the single report reviewed for this piece. The Guardian's account does not include Minaj's own response to being singled out, nor does it specify the exact wording Trump used beyond the "hard to miss" characterization. It is also unclear from the available reporting whether Rogers, James, or other Republican officials on stage commented on the remarks in real time. The Guardian piece is the only sourced account reviewed for this article; no additional outlet, transcript, or official campaign statement was available to corroborate or expand on the quoted material at publication.

The episode arrives as both parties intensify get-out-the-vote efforts in Michigan, a state both sides consider pivotal to the fight for Senate control, according to the Guardian's framing of the race between Rogers and El-Sayed.