Washington [US], February 13 (ANI): In a sharp escalation of her ongoing criticism of US President Donald Trump, Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B has entered a public spat with the Department of Homeland Security following remarks she made about ICE during a recent concert.

The controversy began on Wednesday night at her Palm Desert, California show on the 'Little Miss Drama Tour.'

As per Variety, addressing the crowd from the stage, Cardi B spoke out against potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents attending the concert. 'If ICE comes in here, we gon' jump their asses,' she said, adding that she would not allow her fans to be taken away.

The Department of Homeland Security's official X account responded to a TMZ report on her comments with a pointed remark, 'As long as she doesn't drug and rob our agents, we'll consider that an improvement over her past behaviour.'

The post referenced Cardi B's past admission that, during her time working as a stripper, she had drugged and robbed men.

In 2019, the rapper addressed those claims, stating, 'Whether or not they were poor choices at the time, I did what I had to do to survive,' while also acknowledging she never claimed to be perfect, as per Variety.

Cardi B quickly fired back at the agency, shifting the focus to the recently released files linked to Jeffrey Epstein.

'If we talking about drugs let's talk about Epstein and friends drugging underage girls to rape them. Why y'all don't wanna talk about the Epstein files?' she wrote in response.

https://x.com/iamcardib/status/2022059986889978332

The renewed attention comes as the Department of Justice recently unveiled more than three million additional documents related to Epstein.

According to Variety, Trump's name appears more than 5,300 times in the files. He has denied any wrongdoing and has not faced legal consequences in connection with the documents.

The Epstein revelations have also had ripple effects in the entertainment industry. Casey Wasserman, founder of Wasserman Group, is facing scrutiny over past ties to Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking.

Artists, including Chappell Roan and Orville Peck, have since parted ways with the agency and publicly called for leadership changes. (ANI)