A provision in Trump’s tax legislation creates so-called “Trump Accounts,” which provide $1,000 for every newborn whose parents open an account. The funds are invested in the stock market by private firms, and the child can access the money upon turning 18. Minaj says she plans to contribute between $150,000 and $300,000 to the accounts.
Her support has paid off—afterward, she bragged that her application for U.S. citizenship is getting the fast-track treatment by posting an image of a "Trump Gold Card" to X, simply typing "Welp..." as a caption.
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Launched in December, Trump’s “gold card” creates a fast track to U.S. citizenship for wealthy immigrants willing to pay $1 million, plus a $15,000 processing fee. Critics have condemned the scheme for emerging alongside the administration’s escalating nationwide immigration crackdown.
The card grants approved applicants permanent U.S. residency, mirroring the existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. Trump said in December that sales had already reached $1.3 billion.
And there appears to be a very telling reason why Minaj is so thrilled to have the card in her possession.
In a 2018 Facebook post criticizing the first Trump administration’s family-separation policies, Minaj said she “came to this country as an illegal immigrant at five years old."
In 2024, during a TikTok streaming session, she discussed her legal status again:
"I'm not a citizen of America. Isn't that crazy? I was born on a beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago. But I've been in the States for many years."
"You would think that with the millions of dollars that I've paid in taxes to this country that I would have been given an honorary citizenship many, many, many thousands of years ago."
It is possible that her husband Kenneth Petty’s 1995 conviction for attempted first-degree rape of a 16-year-old would make Minaj ineligible for a green card through marriage. The couple were later sued by Petty’s accuser, Jennifer Hough, who alleged harassment, intimidation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Minaj’s gold card allows her to live in the United States without restriction, though she remains a non-citizen under the terms of the program. Minaj later dismissed critics who said she contributed to the "Trump Accounts" so she could resolve immigration troubles.
In a follow-up post, she wrote:
"Residency? Residency? The cope is coping. Finalizing that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President. Thanks to the petition."
"I wouldn’t have done it without you. Oh CitizenNIKA you are thee moment Gold Trump card free of charge."
Minaj was swiftly called out.
According to The Hill, the White House claims the gift of the gold card is just "a memento."
Either way, we'll see just how much those Trump Gold Cards are truly worth the day Trump is no longer in power.
Of course, the older we get, we realize adulthood isn't quite what we expect it to be.
Which doesn't stop people from having certain goals, schedules and time-limits to accomplish certain things.
Redditor Happyotus was curious to know what common goals people set for adulthood aren't worth people's time and energy, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most overrated 'adult goal' people chase?"
"Having everything 'figured out' by a certain age."
"Life doesn’t work on a schedule, and chasing that illusion just creates unnecessary pressure and comparison."- Life-Contest-1590
"Confusing being busy with being important."- skarface9
"Being famous. It looks hellish to me."
"Even when I fantasize about winning the Euromillions, part of that daydream involves how to keep such a win as anonymous as possible!"- bytheoceansedge
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"Turning every single hobby into a 'side hustle'."
"The internet has convinced us that if you’re good at something, you must monetize it."
"No, Sarah, I don’t want to start an Etsy shop for my paintings."
"I just want to be mediocre at something for fun without checking my profit margins or SEO."
"Not everything needs to be a business."- JulMayoooo
"The idea that you need to be passionate about your career and do what you love."
"Sometimes a job is just a paycheck that funds the life you actually want to live."
"There’s nothing wrong with being mediocre at work if you’re thriving elsewhere."
"Retirement at 60/65 - working until X age and then suddenly stopping is arbitrary."
"The traditional retirement script doesn’t fit everyone."- viedoklis
"Buying stuff to prove you’ve ‘made it’ while quietly burning out."- Separate-Simple-5101
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"Flying a lot for work."- Ok_Raspberry_seven
"Having a job that requires you to work a lot so you seem busy."- idamarie_r
"'Being your own boss'."
"People look at owners of already successful businesses and think that is what starting your own business is like."
"Unless you are already rich and are able to just pay other people to do all the work, starting and owning your own business means you spend every waking hour working to keep your business afloat."- EnycmaPie
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"I find that chasing after social status is pretty overrated."
"True fulfillment comes from personal growth, not what others think."- NightshadeNectars
"Having a job with a lot of pressure and responsibility."- BallKey7607
"I am almost 40, decently educated, and work for myself as a consultant."
"I don't have a Girlfriend, haven't had one for 7 years."
"I am not Married."
"No kids."
"The amount of Side Eyes and Comments I get is scary."
"Even from people my age or slightly Younger, not just the old 'traditional' ones."
"Everyone assumes I should have 'reached the Social Goal' of Married with 2.5 kids by now."
"Its like I am Green with a tail, from Neptune."
"I have a Cat, who is my best friend, I am quite happy, and it doesn't bother me as much as it seems to bother everyone else."
"Social standards have not evolved for the modern times."- orbit99za
Stay Single Animation Domination GIF by gifnews Giphy
"Achieving 'success' in the traditional sense."
"What’s cool about being an adult is getting to choose for yourself what success looks like."
"It doesn’t have to involve tons of money, or a prestigious career, or being surrounded by the most popular and beautiful people."-Aus_with_the_Sauce
"I’m not sure if it can be categorized as a singular goal."
"But the 'keeping up with the joneses' mentality."
"I see people accumulate large amounts of debt to look like they’re doing better than they are."
"Heck that was me in my 20’s."
"Now I’m trying to pay off all debt."
"I’m learning life is a bit easier without debt and interest slowly squeezing you."- Hiimkyle70
"Spending a house down payment on a single-day wedding."
"People go into debt just to impress relatives they don't even like, instead of using that money to build a life together."-TechGeek_Amit
Season 1 Wedding GIF by NBC Giphy
It takes almost no time at all to realize that adulthood isn't going to be everything we imagined.
Even so, even if we don't have the dream job, the perfect spouse, or a large house, it's not hard to quickly see that none of those things are requirements to find happiness.
Flying from Chicago to Tokyo, an anonymous woman sat in the window seat, Meng was in the middle seat, and Meng's boyfriend was on the aisle. A man who is also important to this encounter was in the aisle seat directly across from Meng's boyfriend in the middle row of the two-aisle plane.
The flight took place during the day, so the woman having the shade open at first made sense, so that she could enjoy the view. However, as the flight wore on and food was distributed, many passengers became tired and bored, so the most reasonable thing for many of them to do in preparation for the time change was to take a little nap.
Looking up and down the plane, Meng pointed out that every single passenger fully closed their window shade, making the cabin dark and a little bit cooler.
That was, except for Meng's neighbor.
Though Meng and her boyfriend said nothing, the man in the middle row politely asked if the shade could be darkened. The woman adjusted the shade setting so that it was turned down slightly, but the sun was still blaring in.
Since it was the middle of the day and the sun was high and bright, the man in the middle row had a face full of uncomfortable sunlight. He attempted to cover his face and eventually resorted to holding up a napkin to block out what he could.
Even the flight attendant came over and explained to the woman that there had been complaints from the other side of the plane from passengers in the row across the aisle and working their way back several rows, because of the trajectory of the sunlight.
Meng was still shocked by what the woman said to the flight attendant.
"I sh*t you not, this girl deada** looks at this authority figure, this flight attendant, and says, 'I'm not turning it down even lower. It's already, like, 75 percent down.'"
You can watch the video here:
Some were quick to argue that the passenger in the window seat gets to control the window shade, and that's that.
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Others agreed and said passengers need to come prepared with eyemasks and other equipment.
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But a few pointed out that kindness goes a long way.
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The window seat might be a desirable spot for some to control their view and lighting on the plane, but at the end of the day, sometimes we have to be thoughtful and consider other people's needs in addition to our own.
Dialing down the shade a little more wouldn't have cut off the view for this woman, but it would have made the man in the middle row and the folks on the other side of the plane a little more comfortable—and human to human, especially on such a long flight, maybe that's the more important thing in this case.
In Queens, JFK Airport reported 10.3 inches and LaGuardia had just over 10 inches. On Staten Island, totals ranged from 10 to 14 inches.
After the storm, city hall (nycgov) and the New York City department of sanitation (DSNY) put out a promo video asking for people to help shovel snow—and get paid to do it.
People quickly noted a familiar face among the shovelers featured in the video.
Newly-elected and inaugurated NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani was seen putting his back into getting vehicles back on the streets.
News of Mayor Mamdani's actions spread online and eventually made it to the news media.
Indian news outlet The Brief India wrote:
"Newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was seen grabbing a shovel and helping residents dig out their cars after heavy snowfall in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, as part of the city’s response to a fierce winter storm. The video shows Mamdani working alongside locals to clear snow-covered vehicles, reinforcing his message that 'no task is too big or too small' as residents cope with challenging conditions."
"As the storm brought over eight inches of snow to parts of the city, social media clips of the mayor’s hands-on help circulated widely, prompting praise from many New Yorkers for his visible engagement during the extreme weather event."
But the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post added their own spin to the story. Murdoch is infamously the father of Fox News and similar conservative misinformation media.
The Post shared a story with the headline "Zohran Mamdani reveals poor snow shoveling form as he strains his back in photo opportunity." The Post's hot take was less than well received.
People called it out across social media.
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The United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn didn't have a problem with Mayor Mamdani's form.
But Mayor Mamdani gave his thanks and the credit to city workers.
He wrote on social media:
"Thank you to all of the city workers who have been working around the clock this weekend to keep us safe. No job is too small, no storm is too big."
Mamdani drew praise for his preparedness before the storm hit and his actions during and after. It looks like the Post will need to dig a little deeper to find a criticism for NYC's mayor that sticks.
Around the same time, Damon was attending Harvard University, where a drama class assignment required him to write a 40-page script. Needless to say, that assignment changed their lives.
Damon reflected on the writing process during an appearance on The Tonight Show:
“It took us forever to write that screenplay… We were, like, unemployed, broke guys.”
Once the script was finished, Affleck and Damon began sharing it with studios on the condition that they would star as Will and Chuckie. Castle Rock Entertainment reportedly purchased the rights but asked for revisions, a request that irritated the pair and inspired their now-infamous experiment.
Affleck explained the experiment in a 2013 interview with Boston magazine:
“We were so frustrated that Castle Rock wasn’t reading the script, so we felt like we had to develop this test. We started writing in screen direction like: ‘[Therapist] Sean talks to Will and unloads his conscience.’ And then: ‘Will takes a moment and then gives Sean a soulful look and leans in and starts blowing him.’”
That’s right, folks. To test whether executives were actually reading the script, Affleck and Damon inserted a graphic gay sex scene halfway through and sent the revised draft to major studios.
And Damon made it pretty clear just how impossible the scenes were to miss:
“They weren’t reading the script closely anymore. It was literally probably a full paragraph about what these two characters were doing to each other.”
At that point, the joke wasn’t exactly subtle. The scenes were graphic, extended, and impossible to confuse with metaphor. And yet, the notes kept coming back as if nothing unusual had happened on the page.
Affleck, underscoring just how telling the silence was:
“We would turn that in, and they wouldn’t ever mention all those scenes where Sean and Will were jerking each other off.”
Eventually, one producer did flag the scene: Harvey Weinstein—yes, that Harvey Weinstein, the now-convicted sexual predator—confirming to Affleck and Damon that he had actually read the draft. The script ultimately landed at Miramax, which released Good Will Hunting in 1997. Damon played Will, Affleck played Chuckie, and Robin Williams portrayed Sean.
All that effort paid off, including the fake sex scenes that never made it to screen. Good Will Hunting earned widespread acclaim, and in 1998, Affleck and Damon won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Affleck, then 25, remains the youngest winner in that category.
But fast-forward to 2026, and Affleck is reexamining that stunt with more distance—and significantly more side-eye—during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, where the hosts asked whether the long-circulating urban legend about hidden sex scenes was actually true.
Affleck, confirming it outright, “Yeah, we did.” But after nearly two decades since the movie came out, Affleck’s tone had shifted.
Affleck told the hosts:
“It was actually a scene where the therapist gave Will a bl*wjob. We put, like, one sentence: ‘And then he starts blowing him,’ and only one or two actually gave back the note, and was like: ‘Maybe... Maybe cut that part out.’”
Williams ultimately won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Sean, an irony that isn’t lost in retrospect.
The actors explained the frustration behind the stunt:
“Because we were frustrated! After a while of like… You do stuff, and then you get these notes to do something that was kind of already in the script. I realized later on that’s actually kind of a common thing.”
Looking back, he characterized the move as something they thought they could get away with, simply because they were “young and stupid.”
Posted on January 15, you can watch the full interview clip from the podcast below:
Some readers found the stunt funny, while others gave it serious side-eye:
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Affleck is currently promoting The Rip, a 2026 Netflix crime thriller that reunites him with Damon. The film stars the two as Miami-Dade narcotics officers who uncover millions in cash during a stash-house raid, triggering a tense internal investigation into corruption and loyalty,nspired by the true story of Miami-Dade County Sheriff Chris Casiano.
You can catch the trailer below:
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The ensemble cast includes Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Kyle Chandler, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle. This time, the provocation stays on screen, rather than buried in a script as a test.
