Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee / Staff / Getty
The Barbz community is again divided, as Nicki Minaj has shared a bizarre AI-generate selfie to celebrate President Donald Trump's 80th birthday, featuring some well-known faces. Many are fascinated by the rapper's apparent political pivot, going from singing about him deporting her in 2016's "Black Barbies" to declaring herself his 'number one fan' at the start of 2026.
More than just having beef with Mariah Carey, swathes of her former fans and celebrities alike have called out the "Anaconda" artist. Facing massive backlash in the aftermath of being papped alongside President Donald Trump and getting her Trump Gold Card, Minaj famously deleted her Instagram and has been keeping a lower profile. Still, she's standing by her views and has stayed firmly on the side of the MAGA movement as she made a surprise appearance at Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship launch.
As Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday, Minaj raised a few eyebrows by sharing an AI selfie of the pair alongside Musk and Sydney Sweeney. You might remember that Sweeney was involved in controversy when the Euphoria star appeared in an American Eagle campaign that featured the tagline, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans."
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This has spurred speculation about Sweeney's leanings, and although public records show she's a registered Republican in Florida, she's tried to distance herself from the idea that she's a 'MAGA Barbie' by reiterating she's not a political person.
That won't be helped by Minaj's meme, showing the quartet decked out in designer pink clothing and driving around. While it's clear the image is AI, it's caused a stir.
One critic shared an image of Minaj and Trump from January's Treasury Department's Trump Accounts Summit and grumbled: "Using AI pictures and not the real ones because you look a f**king mess with the real pictures with you and Trump is crazy."
Sydney in the back seat pic.twitter.com/yMN3nlvDAN
— Tony (@AntonyWarware) June 15, 2026
Another lamented: "We always seem to take two steps forward just to end up going four steps back.💔."
A third shared a picture of a One Wish Willow from the viral movie Obsession and concluded: "I’m starting to think Trump used this on her."
Although a few in the comments wished Trump a happy birthday, most mocked Minaj and said her post was 'cringe'. Of course, the POTUS is a fan of AI, famously getting into hot water with the Catholic Church when he shared an AI image that appeared to portray him as Jesus Christ.
In general, Trump and the official White House account continue to be slammed over their use of AI for memes.
As for Minaj's move from lambasting Trump to being a staunch supporter, we can trace it back to a February 2020 interview where she admitted she found him "funny as hell." The real shift came when she praised his foreign policy stance on Nigeria in December 2025.
Jump forward to May 2026, and she was posing at Mar-a-Lago while explaining how she's become frustrated with the Democrats and was pushed toward voting Republican due to the likes of Barack Obama.
Despite his age, the President has shown he's pretty up to date with technology. Still, we'd love to know if he's seen Minaj's meme.
