Trump Celebrates Black History Month by Listing All His Black Friends

Donald Trump’s celebration of Black History Month began with him rattling off the names of every Black person in his circle.

In an extraordinarily on-the-nose, unscripted White House address, the president listed more than a dozen names of prominent Black Americans for no clear reason other than to curry favor with his predominantly nonwhite audience, leveraging the legacies and prestige of the name-dropped pals in order to bolster his own credibility.

“Mike Tyson, boy I tell ya, Mike has been loyal to me. Whenever they come out, they say Trump is a racist, Trump’s a racist, Mike Tyson says, ‘He’s not a racist, he’s my friend, he’s been there from the beginning, good times and bad,’” Trump said. “But Mike Tyson’s a great guy and he’s so loyal. Always been loyal.”

Trump: Mike Tyson. He has been loyal to me. Whenever they come out and they say Trump is a racist, Mike Tyson goes he's not a racist… Lawrence Taylor is a great friend. pic.twitter.com/TmW1jg0Rtj

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2026

“And Herschel Walker, speaking about loyal, how good a football player was Herschel? Now he’s the ambassador to the Bahamas,” Trump said, catching himself as he realized he couldn’t remember where he appointed the onetime Georgia wannabe politician. “I don’t know, Bahamas, Bermuda, is he Bahamas, Bermuda? Whatever! It’s a nice place.”

Trump’s next mention was football player and civil rights activist Jim Brown, whom he referred to as “silent but deadly.” But he didn’t stop there.

“By the way, Lawrence Taylor, great friend. Probably the greatest defensive player probably in the history of football, he’s a great friend of mine,” Trump continued.

Trump also shouted out former Representative Alvida King, “pardon czar” Alice Johnson, HUD Director Scott Turner, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, MAGA surrogate Corrin Rankin, Diandre Johnson, Agriculture Department Director of Private and Public Partnerships Director Bruce LeVell, and Senator Tim Scott.

Trump even mentioned singer-rapper Nicki Minaj, who took a hard right turn toward MAGA Avenue three months ago when her vaccine skepticism—which by then had become a hallmark of the far right—veered into a larger conservative ideology.

Last month, Minaj appeared beside the president for the unveiling of Trump Accounts, clutching his hand and hugging the alleged Epstein associate.