Nicki Minaj Says Her Loathing of Obama & Jay Z Spurred Her MAGA Pivot

Nicki Minaj is shedding more light on why she turned to the MAGA side ... and it mostly revolves around two powerful Black men.

The rapper told Time ... there's a large, but quiet resentment toward Jay-Z in the rap world ... the mogul who she's accused of trying to sabotage her career. And on top of that ... Jay is close pals with Barack Obama.

As she tells it, the former president is a huge sticking point for her for two reasons ... first, there's an expectation that Black entertainers reflexively vote Democratic ... and second, she despised him saying that some Black male voters were uncomfortable voting for Kamala Harris -- which she found "condescending."

Basically, Nicki says she was embraced by the MAGA movement, including the late Charlie Kirk, when she began speaking out against Democrats ... and that's pretty much all she needed to go full-on red hat.

And it has paid off for her ... she recently flaunted her new Trump Gold Card, which she said was gifted to her from the prez and allegedly grants her citizenship.