‘I love this guy’: Kanye West at the White House Oval Office hugs, talks with Donald Trump
The rapper had been invited to lunch to discuss prison reform but turned what was would ordinarily have been a staid White House photo-op into what must have been one of the most unusual encounters in the Oval Office’s storied history
Rapper Kanye West, with a stream of consciousness speech in the Oval Office and a burst of profanity, defended his support for President Donald Trump on Thursday, to the great delight of Trump himself.
The event was billed as a lunch at the White House to discuss prison reform, jobs for African-Americans and Chicago violence.
Those items were addressed in a pre-lunch meeting, but Kanye launched into a speech and Trump let him go on as the cameras recorded it all.
But in between, Kanye spoke of alternative universes, a new plane that Trump should consider as his next Air Force One, his diagnosis of bipolar disorder that he said was actually sleep deprivation, and living in a household dominated by females given his marriage to reality TV star Kim Kardashian West.
Kanye later said his 10-minute speech was “from the soul, I just channelled it.” Trump lapped it all up.
“That was quite something,” said Trump, who was joined in the Oval Office by Hall of Fame NFL running back Jim Brown, who smiled and sat quietly through most of event.
Kanye came to the White House clearly with a lot on his mind, chiefly his support for the president.