Inside the ‘Gangster’ Image of Donald Trump

Amber Rose, an OnlyFans model, influencer and former girlfriend to rappers, took the stage at the Republican National Convention on Monday night sporting her platinum buzz cut and face tattoo.

Ms. Rose, the author of a book titled “How to Be a Bad Bitch,” told the overwhelmingly white crowd that she once believed “left-wing propaganda that Donald Trump was a racist.” But now, she said, she had “put the red hat on, too.”

“These are my people,” she said. “This is where I belong.”

As if to underscore the point, Ms. Rose appeared on the giant screens at the convention hall again the next night. This time it was in a music video for “Trump Trump Baby,” a remix of Vanilla Ice’s 1990s hit, “Ice Ice Baby,” performed by Forgiato Blow, a self-described MAGA rapper. Ms. Rose wore a hefty gold chain with a medallion of Mr. Trump’s face.

At the four-day Trump party last week, Ms. Rose was the embodiment of an increasingly public, and some say offensive, Trump campaign strategy: using hip-hop and rap to sell Mr. Trump to Black and Latino voters.

Mr. Trump and his allies have steadily adopted street slang, music and style, selling $400 golden sneakers, blasting hip-hop at rallies, inviting conservative artists to Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla., and even welcoming rappers accused of murder onstage at a rally.