Remembering When Donald Trump's Damage Control Backfired When Kanye West "Punked" Him In His Own Home

In 2016, Kanye West expressed his political support for Donald Trump onstage at his Saint Pablo tour in San Jose. Soon, the two were meeting at the Trump Towers, with the musician saying it was "important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change." After the former Apprentice host won that year's elections, Ye kept breaking the internet with his pro-Trump rants, which the latter always approved.

But things began to change when Trump invited West for a photo-op dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2022. The move was supposed to control the damage to the former POTUS' image following the rapper's antisemitic comments. Unfortunately, Ye surprised the reality TV star-turned-politician by bringing a White Nationalist with him — ruining Trump's hopeful PR plans. Here's how the Vultures 2 artist "punked" the "best" real estate salesman in his own home.

Donald Trump's Damage Control Dinner With Kanye West Became A Political Disaster

Kanye West "Trolled" Donald Trump By Bringing White Nationalist, Nick Fuentes To Mar-a-Lago

Two days before Thanksgiving in 2022, Trump invited Ye to a private dinner in Mar-a-Lago. Before that, the two had been talking for weeks about the Yeezy founder losing multiple brand deals following his antisemitic remarks. But Trump's damage control backfired when West brought White Nationalist and antisemite, Nick Fuentes with him. "We saw everybody in the dining room get up and start applauding, and then the president entered," Fuentes said of the event.

"He greeted us, and he invited Ye into dinner and Ye said that he wanted to bring us with him to the table," he continued. "So we walked in and Ye took some pictures with some of the guests in the dining room and then we sat down at the table."

But it wasn't just Fuentes' presence that rattled Trump. As it turned out, the Famous hitmaker slammed the latter for "not doing enough to help pay the legal bills of those arrested in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots," per NBC News' report at that time. The former president then criticized his guest's ex-wife Kim Kardasahian, according to two other dinner participants. The next day, Ye claimed, "Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes" in a video posted on then-Twitter (now known as X).

Trump's longtime adviser admitted: "The master troll got trolled. Kanye punked Trump."

Kanye West only likes half of what Donald Trump does, which is "the ability to do what no one said you can do, to do the impossible."

Donald Trump Called Kanye West A "Seriously Troubled Man" After Their Disastrous Dinner

Donald Trump Was Blindsided By Kanye West Bringing Nick Fuentes To Mar-a-Lago

Milo Yiannopoulos, an anti-Trump activist who was serving as Ye's political adviser, was initially accused of being "the architect" of the whole disastrous dinner with Fuentes. "I wanted to show Trump the kind of talent that he's missing out on by allowing his terrible handlers to dictate who he can and can't hang out with," said the far-right figure, who then admitted to setting up the dinner "just to make Trump's life miserable" by throwing off his PR team.

True enough, Trump attacked Ye, saying: "He tried to f--- me. He's crazy. He can't beat me."

An insider revealed that "Trump was totally blindsided" by Fuentes' attendance at the dinner and that "it was a setup." Less than a week after the incident, the billionaire said he was just helping a "seriously troubled man" get un-canceled back then. "So I help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black, Ye (Kanye West), who has been decimated in his business and virtually everything else," he wrote on his platform, Truth Social.

Trump continued: "He shows up with 3 people, two of which I didn't know, the other a political person who I haven't seen in years. I told him don't run for office, a total waste of time, can't win. Fake News went CRAZY!"

Trump kept insisting on not knowing Fuentes' background, confirming that he was tricked into meeting him and Ye. The politician added that they "discussed to a lesser extent, politics" in a non-hateful manner during dinner. "We got along great, [Ye] expressed no anti-Semitism, & I appreciated all of the nice things he said about me on Tucker Carlson," he claimed. "Why wouldn't I agree to meet? Also, I didn't know Nick Fuentes."

A Timeline Of Donald Trump And Kanye West's Relationship

Kanye West Still Supports Donald Trump's 2024 Presidential Run

Kanye West Told Donald Trump To Be His 2024 Running Mate During Their Disastrous Dinner

Billboard recently reported that Ye is among the musicians backing up Trump's third presidential run. When asked about it in February, the rapper told paparazzi: "Of course, it's Trump all day!" But during their "troll" dinner in 2022, Ye apparently asked Trump to be his running mate in the upcoming election, which supposedly angered the latter at that time.

In his viral video on X, the Heartless performer claimed that Trump reacted by "basically screaming at me at the table telling me I was gonna lose." While Ye hasn't been publicly campaigning for his friend, the presidential hopeful has gained the support of other rappers like Kodak Black and Lil Wayne who were both pardoned in the final hours of Trump's previous term.

"I want to thank President Trump for recognizing that I have so much more to give to my family, my art, and my community," Wayne said back then. In August, Trump finally adressed Ye, calling him "very complicated" at Adin Ross' Kick stream.

Trump explained: "Let's say complicated because he is. He's a really nice guy, but he can get some people into trouble. And he can get some other people. He's got a good heart — he does, he does, but he's complicated."

Kanye West self-funded his 2020 presidential run, loaning $6.8 million to his presidential committee but raising only a little under $11,500 from eight donors.