Overview
- During his speech at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Trump joked that shouts of “get down” during the April shooting had caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking.
- The April 25 shooting forced attendees to take cover and triggered Secret Service evacuations, and the rescheduled July event proceeded without further violence but with fewer celebrities and no red carpet.
- Minaj was not at the April dinner because she was delayed by traffic, and she did not attend the July event; she responded on social media with a photo and a caption signaling displeasure at the joke.
- Coverage and online reaction split sharply, with many critics calling the joke insensitive or racially charged while supporters treated it as routine political ribbing.
- Minaj’s visible alignment with the president this year — including White House appearances and public praise from Trump — has made her a frequent target in his remarks and raised new questions about the use of celebrity allies in presidential messaging.