Kanye West to dine with President Trump at the White House
WASHINGTON - Kanye West is coming to the White House.
The rap star is scheduled to meet Thursday morning with President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then have lunch with Trump himself, according to a person familiar with the plans.
The visit is the latest development in a budding relationship between Trump and West, who met at Trump Tower in New York during the 2016 presidential transition and have exchanged flattering tweets over the past year.
West also made headlines last month for a pro-Trump speech at the end of his appearance on "Saturday Night Live," which didn't make the air. West donned a red "Make America Great Again" hat for much of his time as the musical guest on the Sept. 29 season premiere.
The meeting with Kushner is expected to focus on criminal justice reform, an issue that falls under his purview as a senior adviser to the president.
White House officials did not immediately respond to questions about the upcoming visit, which was first reported by The New York Times. The person who confirmed West's plans to The Washington Post was not authorized to discuss the visit and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
West - who recently declared he should now be called "Ye" - will not be the first member of his family at the White House.
In July, Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a Tennessee woman serving a life term for nonviolent drug offenses, after he and Kushner met with West's wife, the reality star and socialite Kim Kardashian West, to discuss the case.
Trump has on several occasions cited his friendly relationship with West in appeals to black Americans, who sided overwhelming in the 2016 election with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Earlier this year, West took to Twitter to defend his views about Trump - which have prompted a backlash from some of his fans. In multiple tweets, he called Trump "my brother" and said the two share "dragon energy."
During his "Saturday Night Live" appearance, West sought to tamp down criticism about his relationship with the president.
"There's so many times I talk to, like, a white person about this and they say, 'How could you like Trump? He's racist.' Well, uh, if I was concerned about racism, I would've moved out of America a long time ago," West said.
He has previously said he would have voted for Trump - if he had voted.