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Trump, Kushner to meet with Kanye West at White House
The Hill
Rapper Kanye West will meet with President Trump and senior adviser Jared Kushner on Thursday, the White House confirmed early Tuesday.
“Kanye West is coming to the White House to have lunch with President Trump and he will also meet with Jared Kushner. 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,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, according to a pool report.
West, who has become one of Trump’s most vocal celebrity supporters, will meet Kushner before having lunch with Trump at the White House, two people familiar with the plans told The New York Times on Monday.
The musician reportedly wants to discuss furthering job opportunities for former convicts with the administration officials.
West also hopes to discuss with Trump how to increase the number of manufacturing jobs near Chicago, where he grew up, the Times reported.
Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, has met with West’s wife, reality star Kim Kardashian West, to discuss his focus on overhauling the criminal justice system.
Kardashian West met with Trump in the Oval Office in May to urge him to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother serving a life sentence in prison for a nonviolent drug offense.
Trump and West also met following the 2016 presidential election.
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West in April called Trump his “brother” and said they are both “dragon energy.”
The rapper left social media again on Sunday after he was criticized for delivering a pro-Trump speech following his performance a week earlier on “Saturday Night Live.”
West during his speech claimed “SNL” cast members had “bullied” him and urged him not to wear a “Make America Great Again” hat onstage.
“SNL” cast member Pete Davidson mocked his speech on the latest episode of “SNL,” calling it “one of the worst, most awkward things I’ve ever seen here.”
“He wore it all week, like, nobody told him not to wear it,” Davidson said. “Like, I wish I bullied you. I wish I would’ve suggested that it might upset some people, like your wife, or every black person ever.”
Jordan Fabian contributed to this report, which was updated on Oct. 9 at 8:17 a.m.