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Former President Trump described Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, as "a seriously troubled man, who happens to be Black," as he defended hosting him at Mar-a-Lago for a controversial dinner.
Ye brought Nick Fuentes, a notorious white supremacist and Holocaust denier, to the dinner, which sparked widespread controversy and condemnation. Trump has claimed that he did not know who Fuentes was prior to the meeting.
Trump claimed on Truth Social on Saturday that Ye had requested the meeting at Mar-a-Lago and that he gave the rapper much-needed "advice."
The former president said that Ye had been "decimated in his business and virtually everything else" but noted that he has "always been good to me."
Numerous companies have cut ties with the rap star after he generated controversy by making antisemitic comments and wearing a shirt with the words "White Lives Matter" on it – a slogan widely used by white supremacists, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Ye, who has suggested he plans to run for president in 2024, claimed that Trump screamed at him during the dinner and told him he would lose if he ran. The rapper said Trump was "perturbed" when he asked him to be his running mate.
Trump said in his statement that he told Ye not to run for office as it was "a total waste of time, can't win."
The former president recently announced his plans to run for president for the third time.
Ye previously ran in 2020, but his campaign ended after he gained only 70,000 votes, per the BBC.
Trump also claimed that Ye brought three people to the dinner, two of whom he didn't know and one being someone he hadn't seen in years.
His latest statement slightly contradicts a previous one in which he claimed he knew nothing about any of Ye's guests. Sources told NBC News that one of the guests was Karen Giorno, who was the Trump campaign's Florida director in 2016, and someone Trump knew personally.
One anonymous longtime Trump adviser told NBC News that the fallout from the Mar-a-Lago dinner was a "fucking nightmare."
The White House, former GOP governor Chris Christie and Trump's former ambassador to Israel have been among those criticizing Trump for dining with Ye and Fuentes.
