Kanye West met Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Tuesday morning, with the president-elect telling reporters they spoke about “life”.
West arrived at 9.13am and then he and Trump emerged from the gold elevator together around at around 9.53am and posed for photos in front of the waiting media.
When asked what they spoke about, Trump replied: “Just friends, just friends. He’s a good man.”
Trump did not answer questions about whether West would perform at his inauguration – the president-elect has reportedly been struggling to find any willing high-profile artists – and said the two had been friends a “long time”.
“Life. We discussed life,” said Trump.
West said “I’m just here to take a picture right now,” and ignored reporters’ other questions.
The pair then awkwardly dapped, and Trump said “so long man, you take care of yourself, I’ll see you soon.”
Pool reporter Tal Kopan posted a video of the interaction on Instagram:
At a concert in San Jose on 17 November, West said that if he had voted in the presidential election – which he had not – he would have backed Trump.
“I would’ve voted on Trump,” said West, while many in the audience booed.
“I don’t think his approach was just entertaining, because that trivializes it, I actually think his approach was absolutely genius because it fucking worked,” said West.
According to one concert goer, West also said that Trump’s election campaign “inspired racists to reveal themselves”.
“This is the beginning,” West said, according to one attendee, adding: “Neither candidate would fix racism in this country.”
Just three days later, West checked into the UCLA Medical Center suffering from exhaustion and lack of sleep, and spent a week there receiving mental health treatment.
His wife, Kim Kardashian, who has made no public appearances since a robbery in Paris in October, where she was tied up and robbed of millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry, was not with him for his arrival at Trump Tower. His entourage included a videographer. Trump’s daughter Ivanka was also there.
West speaks often about politics and race relations, and has claimed that he would run for president in 2020, first at the Video Music Awards in 2015, then in his lyrics for Facts on his Life of Pablo album: “2020 I’ma run the whole election.”
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