What the What? Kanye West Meets With President-Elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in NYC
It seems there’s much more to Kanye West’s NYC visit than meetings about his fashion line — and showing off that blond hair. The rapper paid a visit to Trump Tower on Tuesday to get together with President-elect Donald Trump.
The “Famous” singer, who has expressed his own presidential ambitions, strode into the midtown Manhattan skyscraper, with an entourage, early in the morning. Kanye, who was without wife Kim Kardashian, walked by reporters on the way to Trump’s personal elevator, uttering only a “hey.”
Omg, KANYE is at TRUMP TOWER right now pic.twitter.com/uFtVgbRgRz
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) December 13, 2016
After the private meeting — which Trump’s children Eric and Ivanka seemed to be on hand for — the rapper and the reality TV star turned politico came down together and posed for photos. Ivanka appeared to be beaming in the background. (Perhaps she’s a big Life of Pablo fan? Or maybe she’s a secret collector of Yeezy footwear.)
“Friends, just friends,” Trump told reporters, who couldn’t get enough of the megawatt meeting, about their relationship. He called West, “A good man” and said he has known him for a long time. (Trump has changed his tune since 2009. After Kanye hijacked Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV VMAs that year, the future president called Kanye’s behavior “disgusting” in an interview with TMZ. He vowed to boycott Kanye — “so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again” — and accused the rapper of “grandstanding to get attention.”)
Kanye, who was hospitalized for exhaustion after melting down at a concert right before Thanksgiving, wouldn’t comment to reporters, saying, “I just want to take a picture right now.” The visit ended when the men hugged.
Several hours later, Kanye took to Twitter to give a little insight into the visit. He said they spoke about “multicultural” issues, including “bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago.” He went on to say he found it “important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change.”
I wanted to meet with Trump today to discuss multicultural issues.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 13, 2016
These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 13, 2016
I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 13, 2016
However, he let it be known that his own presidential ambition remains strong.
#2024
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 13, 2016
The Kanye-Trump bro hug. It's been quite a morning at Trump Tower
(Thanks @brennawilliams for the assist) pic.twitter.com/h9uS95GO8b— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) December 13, 2016
Prior to his hospitalization, Kanye — who famously bragged that President Obama has his phone number — told a crowd of his concertgoers in San Jose, Calif., that he didn’t vote, but if he had, he would have voted for Trump. He was largely booed for his admission, with some throwing items at the stage. (Kim, whom he hasn’t been living with during his recovery, was a Hillary Clinton supporter.)
While it’s unclear what “good man” Kanye and Trump really got together to discuss, one possibility is Kanye taking part in the inauguration — though with a watered-down PG performance. But the thing is, you never know quite what to expect with Kanye, and he could easily go off-track — as we’ve seen him do recently. However, Trump is a loose cannon himself, so he might appreciate that.