President Donald Trump has praised Nicki Minaj’s backside, saying it “stands out”. Mr Trump made the remarks during a rally in Michigan on Sunday, joking about the physique of Republican Senator Jon Husted before comparing his backside to Nicki Minaj’s.

Mr Trump described Nicki Minaj’s derriere as hard to miss before turning to the singer, who attended the event, as supporters cheered him on.

“By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before—Nicki Minaj. That’s hard to miss. That—stand up! That’s hard to miss. OK, I’m going to get back to my story, Nicki,” Mr Trump stated. “I hope Nicki wasn’t insulted, but we love Nicki. She’s been with us for a long time.”

He added, “I looked at his (Mr Husted) ass, and I have never done that with a man before—off the record, women, yes—men, no. 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. You are a great athlete.” Trump also said to Husted. Congratulations.”

Nicki Minaj has moved closer with the U.S. administration after Mr Trump designated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over alleged Christian genocide, a decision that the musician publicly endorsed on social media.

“Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God,” she stated at the time. “No group should ever be persecuted for practising their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order to respect each other.”

The Trump administration subsequently invited the rapper to address a United Nations conference.

She said, “It is an honour to stand on this stage with you and the other distinguished speakers here today to shine a spotlight on the deadly threat faced by thousands of Christians in Nigeria.

“I would like to thank President Trump for prioritising this issue and for his leadership on the global stage in calling for urgent action to defend Christians in Nigeria, to combat extremism, and to bring a stop to violence against those who simply want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief.”