So... Is Donald Trump Even A Kanye West Fan?

Following his now-infamous November declaration, on December 13, Kanye West was seen entering the Trump Tower, and as of right now we don't know why. We do know that Kanye would have voted for Donald Trump (and likes him so much that he's willing to meet him in person), but is Donald Trump a fan of Kanye? Just how confusing is this meeting between two such controversial figures, anyway?

During a November 18 show, Kanye, ever one to outdo himself on shock value, told a California crowd, "If I would have voted, I would have voted on Trump.” Though the remark could have fallen deaf on those Blue State ears (Did he mean it? Was he just trying to get a reaction?), the crowd booed. He seemed pretty serious. Then, it spread as only Kanye news can spread — like wildfire. Despite the rapper being too lazy to vote, or missing the deadline, or some other excuse, the comment outraged some loyal 'Ye supporters. They missed the old Kanye. The definitely wouldn't vote for Trump Kanye. The wouldn't walk into Trump Tower to have a meeting with the president-elect Kanye. And yet here we are.

Though we weren't always here. In fact, before Kanye and his entourage walked through the lobby of the headquarters for the Trump Organization and before he shook hands with the president-elect in that very lobby, they didn't get along. Or, at least, one half of them definitely didn't like the other. In 2009, Trump told TMZ that he found Kanye to be disgusting, because of the infamous Taylor Swift award interruption. "He couldn't care less about Beyoncé," he said, "It was grandstanding to get attention." At this point, he called for a Kanye boycott.

Throughout the next couple of years, no one seemed to care what Trump thought of Kanye. That is, until Kanye claimed that he would be running for president in 2020. Naturally, people wanted the then-GOP candidate's opinion. After all, the two shared some common ground. They both didn't come from political backgrounds, they were both known for saying controversial and divisive things, and they both consistently claimed that the media portrayed them harshly. The parallels were too glaring to not be addressed.

On Sept. 2 of last year, Rolling Stone published an exclusive interview with Trump, and asked him about 'Ye: "He's said very nice things about me in the past... extremely positive things... He's actually a different kind of person than people think. He's a nice guy. I hope to run against him someday."

Flash forward to July of 2016, when Kanye released the video for "Famous" featuring a faux-Trump, naked in bed. According to Variety, Trump’s camp confirmed that the then-GOP candidate was not involved in the shoot at all. The video raised some eyebrows and sparked heated discussions about exploitation, but Trump never noted that he was upset with Kanye, further confirming that he supported the artist's endeavors — controversial as they might be.

Like a bevy of the president-elect's political stances, Trump's opinion of Kanye seems to have flip-flopped over the years. The once progressive-minded Kanye has been open about his admiration for Trump, and because of this, the president-elect likes him. Whether or not we like that, well, that's a different story.