White House aides were reportedly embarrassed by a bizarre Oval Office meeting last week between President Donald Trump and Kanye West in which the rapper praised the president for making him "feel like Superman" and being on his "hero's journey", and the President appeared disoriented.
"I heard from other West Wing aides who were hugely embarrassed that that had happened, thought that was not a good look, that this is not a rock concert," New York Times White House Correspondent Maggie Haberman told CNN Friday.
As someone who covered Trump for years at the New York Post back when Trump was just a real estate mogul and TV reality show host, Haberman is no stranger to the world of Trump.
"The main sentiment I have heard," Haberman said, "is why have we taken what was a pretty good week for the president with [Supreme Court Justice Brett] Kavanaugh, which is something that Republican candidates heading into the midterms would probably rather be talking about, and why are we now doing 'Kanye Week'?"
About halfway through their meeting, Trump had an opportunity to respond to West, who had talked and expressed his views nonstop since the camera had begun rolling.
"I'll tell you what — that was pretty impressive, folks," Trump said. "That was quite something. That was quite something. "
Earlier in the week, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said West would meet with Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, to discuss "manufacturing resurgence in America, prison reform, how to prevent gang violence, and what can be done to reduce violence in Chicago." West's wife, reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, previously met with Trump to advocate, and ultimately secure, a presidential pardon for an Alabama woman serving a life sentence for a nonviolent 1996 drug conviction .
Kushner has pushed for an overhaul of the country's correction system for some time, but the president reportedly rejected a bipartisan proposal for prison and sentencing reform in August after privately meeting with Kushner and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump had previously supported the plan but wanted to wait until after the midterm elections to take further action.
"This was very much a Jared Kushner show," Haberman said. "Kushner brought Kanye West in to talk about prison reform and job opportunities for inmates after they get out of prison and then this lunch was put on the president's calendar."
The same day of West's visit, music icons like Kid Rock, Mike Love from the Beach Boys, Big and Rich's John Rich, and Sam Moore of Sam and Dave all gathered at the White House to watch the president sign the Music Modernization Act into law. The legislation updated music copyright law and made it easier for songwriters and producers to receive royalties from online streaming services like Spotify and Pandora. The bill received praise from the music community and was something the industry had advocated for for years.
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About the writer
Ramsey Touchberry is a Washington Correspondent for Newsweek based in the nation's capital, where he regularly covers Congress.
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