Rapper Nicki Minaj brought her star power to the United Nations to draw global attention to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, teamed up with President Donald Trump’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz to speak at an event hosted by the United States Mission to the United Nations that spotlighted religious violence and the killings of Christians in the most populous African nation.
The rap mogul said she wanted to speak out against injustice and stand up for people who are persecuted for their beliefs.
“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed. Churches have been burned. Families have been torn apart and entire communities live in fear constantly, simply because of how they pray,” she told attendees.
Nicki Minaj leaves the podium after speaking during the panel “Combatting Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria” at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City, on Nov. 18, 2025. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
“Sadly, this problem is not only a growing problem in Nigeria, but also in so many other countries across the world, and it demands urgent action,” Minaj said. “And I want to be clear, protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people. It is about uniting humanity.”
Minaj, who has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administration’s actions to combat the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, seemed to distance herself from politics. Addressing her fans directly, who she calls “Barbz,” she once again said that she was not “taking sides.”
“Barbz, I know you’re somewhere listening. I love you so very much. You have been the ultimate light in my life and career for so long. I appreciate you and I want to make it very clear — once again — that this isn’t about taking sides. This is about standing up in the face of injustice. It’s about what I’ve always stood for my entire career. And I will continue to stand for that for the rest of my life. I will care if anyone, anywhere, is being persecuted for their beliefs,” Minaj said.
Waltz also spoke, calling the killings of Christians in Nigeria “genocide wearing the mask of chaos.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz speaks at a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestinian statehood, during the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N. headquarters in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“There is a body of evidence, and you are going to hear that from our experts today that paints a very grim picture of disproportionate suffering among Christians, where, again, families are torn apart, clergy is repeatedly assassinated, and entire congregations, church congregations,” he said.
“Folks, we have an entire faith that is being erased. One bullet at a time, one torched Bible at a time.”
Nicki Minaj is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz ahead of a panel discussion titled “Combatting Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria” at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City on November 18, 2025. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
The event featuring Waltz and Minaj came after Trump threatened in a November Truth Social post to send U.S. troops “guns-a-blazing” into the most populous country in Africa to “completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
The president also threatened to stop all aid and assistance if the violence continued.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu responded to Trump’s threat, writing on social media that his administration has worked with Christian and Muslim leaders to address security challenges affecting citizens across all faiths and regions.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” he wrote on X
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu speaks with his aide during the 64th ECOWAS Heads of State and Government ordinary session in Abuja on Dec. 10, 2023. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images)
Open Doors, an international Christian organization that supports persecuted believers, said attacks are most common in the northern, Muslim-majority states of Nigeria but have started spreading into the Middle Belt and farther south
