President Donald Trump made an eyebrow‑raising threat against his son, Donald Trump Jr., during a live phone‑in to the Turning Point USA annual AmericaFest conference.
The moment took place on Sunday (December 21) as Trump Jr. put his father on speaker phone in front of a cheering right‑wing crowd in Phoenix, Arizona, that had gathered for speeches and celebrity appearances.
The 47-year-old kicked off the call by saying: “I wanted to call in a little guest. He may not be here today, but I wanted to make sure he had a chance to say ‘hi.’”
That’s when the president’s voice rang out, and the audience erupted as he responded: “Oh, I wanna be with you. But I’ll be with you soon, and I just wanna say that nobody did more for me than Charlie, and there’s nobody better than Erika, and you are the greatest people on Earth.”
After rallying his MAGA base, Trump added an off‑the‑cuff warning to his son: “I just wanted to thank you all, and I hope my son’s doing a good job representing me; otherwise, I’ll have to say ‘You’re fired, Don. You’re fired.’”
He closed with more playful pressure, saying, “So thank you very much and have a great day. I hope Don makes a great speech. If he doesn’t make a great speech, let me know about it, I’ll give him hell.”
The remarks drew tense “Ohs” from the audience before Trump urged everyone to “go have a good time.”
Trump Jr. fires up the crowd
Trump Jr.’s own speech didn’t hold back. He declared that the Republican Party was a thing of the past and that his father now leads the “America First Party” and the “Make America Great Again Party.”
“Midterms are coming around the corner, and make no mistake, the Democrat Party wants to do whatever they possibly can to shut this movement down. Not just the Democrats. The RINOs,” he said.
“You see the manufactured attacks on JD [Vance], myself, my father - anyone who understands that this isn’t the Republican Party anymore. It’s the America First Party. It’s the Make America Great Again Party. And we are not going back!” he said.
The crowd responded with loud applause and a booming “USA! USA! USA!” chant as Trump Jr. blasted Democrats and “weak” Republicans “who just capitulated to the D.C. swamp".
He also took aim at federal refugee policy, attacking caps and saying, “How’s that working out for anyone? I keep hearing diversity is our strength. I’m not so sure."
Nicki Minaj causes awkward silence with JD Vance slip
The event wasn’t short on drama, with conservative figures taking swings at each other.
Ben Shapiro unleashed on Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Candace Owens, slamming them for spreading wild conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
As if that wasn’t enough, rapper Nicki Minaj sparked her own firestorm on the same stage with a painfully awkward slip‑up.
During a live appearance answering questions with Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, Minaj, 43, praised Vice President JD Vance but mistakenly used the word “assassin.”
She said “Dear young men, you have amazing role models, like our handsome, dashing president,” and then, “And you have amazing role models like the assassin, JD Vance, our vice president, and when I say that…” before stopping mid‑sentence, visibly realizing the gravity of her word choice.
Erika stepped in to soothe the moment, telling Minaj, “Trust me, there’s nothing new under the sun that I have not heard, so you’re fine. Yes, we did, I love you. I love you.”
The mom-of-two added that viewers should “laugh about it” and emphasized her belief in Minaj’s character, saying, “Words are words, but I know her heart, and I do not judge that.”
Afterward, the Super Bass rapper thanked the widow and continued her remarks.