Kanye West to meet with Donald Trump at the White House

KANYE West will reportedly meet US President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner at the White House this week.

West — who caused controversy after he voiced his support for Mr Trump on Saturday Night Live — will have lunch with the president and his son-in-law on Thursday, according to The New York Times.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the meeting, stating that, “Topics of discussions will include manufacturing resurgence in America, prison reform, how to prevent gang violence, and what can be done to reduce violence in Chicago.”

West also met with Mr Trump at Trump Tower a month after his election in 2016.

During last week’s SNL season premiere, West wore a red “Make America Great Again” hat, stating that he supported the US President because Democrats want to “take the fathers out the home and put them on welfare.”

“There are so many times I talk to like a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist,’” West continued. “Well, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.”

West was booed by the audience as SNL cast members shuffled awkwardly behind him.

SNL’s Kenan Thompson later told US talk show host, Seth Meyers, that West held the cast “hostage”.

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“He voiced his opinion, very loudly, for a long time,” the comedian said. “We’re all entitled to our opinion, but you know, I don’t know if that’s the moment, necessarily, to hold people hostage like that, but hey.”

West later received praised from Mr Trump who tweeted that he did not watch but heard that “Kanye was great.”

It’s the latest in a string of controversies tied to the controversial rapper. In May, he faced widespread backlash after stating that slavery was “a choice”.

Earlier this week, influential New York radio host Ebro Darden said that West had called him in an attempt to get former NFL player and now prominent activist Colin Kaepernick at the White House.

Mr Trump had been critical of Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games.

“We won’t be doing that,” the DJ told West. “I was like, ‘The only thing that needs to happen first, Donald Trump should come out and apologise to Colin Kaepernick for trying to come for his job.”

West’s pro-Trump stance has alienated him from many of his peers — John Legend, TI, Ice T, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Chrissy Teigen have all been critical of his comments.

The controversial rapper, who had recently been active again on social media, deleted both Twitter and Instagram last weekend.

— with the New York Pos