UPDATE: Donald Trump’s spokesperson Hope Hicks confirmed to Billboard that the meeting took place at Kanye West’s request but did not respond to reports about Trump possibly offering the rapper a leadership role.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Trump’s communications director Jason Miller said the pair met because Trump “is going to be president for all Americans,” Miller added, “[Kanye] has had positive things to say about the president-elect,” and Trump is interested in “putting together coalitions” and wants to “reach out to people both from traditional and nontraditional political viewpoints.”
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Nearly three weeks since he was hospitalized after suffering from exhaustion and sleep deprivation, rapper Kanye West appeared with a new blonde ‘do at the Trump Tower in New York City on Tuesday morning (Dec. 13).
CSpan footage showed West strutting into the hotel, offering a “hey” to reporters asking for the purpose of his trip. A rep for West did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
WATCH: @KanyeWest at Trump Tower #elevatorcam pic.twitter.com/I4FpM57S1x
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 13, 2016
CNN also showed a clip of the two posing for photos. “We’ve been friends for a long time,” offered Trump. “We were discussing life.”
“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Donald Trump says as he stands next to Kanye West. https://t.co/pgnHGJru9p
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) December 13, 2016
When asked about the “Kanye 2020” movement and if he’s still considering a presidential run in light of his meeting with the President-elect or if he’s considering performing at next month’s inauguration, West just smiled and declined to comment. “I just want to take a picture right now,” he replied.
The odd exchange ended with Trump putting his arm around West and pulling him in, then walking away and coming back for a handshake. “You take care of yourself, I’ll see you soon,” Trump said, pulling the rapper in for an embrace.
The hip-hop star recently offered his support for the President-elect. Before canceling the 21 remaining dates of his Saint Pablo tour last month following his hospitalization, West was met with a chorus of boos at his San Jose, Calif., show after he revealed that he would have voted for Trump had he headed to the polls.
“I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I were to vote, I would have voted on Trump,” he said.
West continued, “I just said that I would have voted for Donald Trump and then I did a song and y’all sang it at the top of your lungs. That doesn’t mean that you’re a Trump supporter. That just means you OK with a celebrity having their own opinion. Or that someone else is OK to have their own opinion. That might not be your opinion but you can still like that person or still like that person’s music.”
In September 2015, Trump reacted to West’s announcement that he would run for president in 2020. “He’s said very nice things about me in the past… extremely positive things,” the then-presidential candidate told Rolling Stone. “He’s actually a different kind of person than people think. He’s a nice guy. I hope to run against him someday.”
West also included a wax figure of Trump in his controversial “Famous” video, which also included nude wax figures of his wife, Kim Kardashian, in bed with Bill Cosby, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Ray J and Caitlyn Jenner.