On October 11, 2018, Kanye West met Donald Trump in the White House. Despite the esteemed reputation of the oval office, the meeting was anything but formal. His rant to the president consisted of expletives and undeveloped points in a nearly 20-minute rant. Due to the nature of the meeting, there were cameras capturing every angle of the encounter. At one point, West acknowledges why Trump is such a controversial person to be supporting. He addressed concerns that Trump is racist and said “You think racism can control me?… That’s an invisible wall.”

West also discussed the mental health crisis in his hometown of Chicago. He proposed that Trump build factories and buildings to aid the city because “[Trump] is a master of industry.” When talking about Attention Deficit Disorder in children he said, “He don’t have A.D.D. School is boring.” That quote in itself could be seen as problematic.

West was heavily criticized online and on news networks. Don Lemon, an anchor for CNN, described West’s encounter as a “minstrel show.” Saturday Night Live did an opening skit that parodied the West and Trump meeting featuring Alec Baldwin, who has recurrently appeared as Trump on the show.

This wasn’t the first time that both Trump and West have interacted. In April 2018, Kanye and Trump showed their mutual love for each other on Twitter. Later in the year, West would be seen proudly donning his MAGA (Make America Great Again) baseball cap while walking around Los Angeles.

Later in May, that same year, Kanye was quoted as saying slavery was a choice, which understandably, was extremely controversial. He then sat down with TMZ staffer Van Lathan to discuss his word choice.

Virtually all of 2018 has been controversial, to say the least, for Kanye West. From rap beefs to praising Trump and justifying slavery. However, the meeting in the oval office could possibly be the most extreme move made by West.