Donald Trump distanced himself from a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida with Ye, formerly known as West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, claiming he didn't know the identity of the far-right activist who was unexpectedly brought along
I received a call from the man who called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Shortly thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I didn't know anything about.
Many members were present at the dinner on Tuesday. The dinner was easy to cook. They went to the airport.
A person familiar with the dinner conversation who is not involved in Trump's presidential campaign and two Trump advisers briefed on the dinner corroborates Trump's claim. Due to the nature of the controversy, three sources spoke on condition that they not be identified.
Despite Trump's suggestion the event was "uneventful", the backlash over his dinner with Fuentes seems to have thrown Trump's campaign into damage control mode. The former president took hours to respond to reports that he was present at the dinner.
Even the two Trump advisers winced at how a Holocaust denier like Fuentes was able to wind up with Trump at dinner, even if it was by mistake.
One of Trump's advisers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of stoking the former president's ire at people who criticized him. There's another reason why people are considering running against Trump.
One glaring inaccuracy in Trump's statement was that he knew one of the friends brought by Karen Giorno. She worked for the Trump campaign in Florida and the former president knows her by name and sight. Ye brought along a man who was an associate of Giorno and Fuentes.
After Ye asked Trump to be his running mate, the dinner became heated, according to the source. Ye posted a video on Thanksgiving Day of his dinner with his ex- wife, Kim, in which Trump insulted her.
Ye's second presidential campaign is being advised by Fuentes, according to the source. Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right provocateur who was banned in 2016 for inciting a racist campaign against comedianLeslie Jones, will manage the campaign, according to the rapper.
They didn't comment on the dinner.
The dinner was spotted at Mar-a-Lago by a reporter on Wednesday, and details began to emerge on social media. Timcast confirmed that Fuentes was at the dinner.
The porous nature of Mar-a-Lago has long been a concern of his advisers. It helped land Trump in the sights of a federal investigation after the FBI executed a search warrant at the club in search of documents marked classified.
In a follow-up message, his campaign pointed to Trump's support of Israel, the Abraham Accords Middle East peace deal, and his opposition to anti-Semitism in Iran.
Trump implied that American Jews have dual loyalty to Israel and said that there were " very fine people on both sides" at the "Unite the Right" rally in Virginia. After Trump said he denounced white supremacy at the rally, the man denounced him.
Ye said that Trump was impressed with Nick Fuentes. Nick Fuentes, unlike so many of the lawyers and so many people that he was left with on his campaign, is a loyalist for Trump.
The source said that Trump had planned to dine with Ye at Mar-a-Lago's library but then said they should eat outside. The others were invited as well.
The topic of racism and anti-Semitism was not brought up. He knew a lot about polls and Trump. The source said that Trump didn't know who he was.
The source said that Trump asked Fuentes about his speech the week before and that he criticized him for being too scripted. The source said that the two men said that Trump should have issued a blanket pardon for the Capitol riot.
Ye posted a copy of a group text message exchange that said that Trump mentioned his adviser, Miller, to the man who criticized him for now running the social media site Gettr.
A notable user has been verified by Trump's Truth Social platform.
At a certain point in the conversation, the conversation became tense and Trump began making comments about the other person. Ye said that the mother of his children was that person.
Trump became animated when Ye challenged him. You won't win. Trump told Ye that he couldn't beat him. Just because you work for him, you will tell him he can beat me? You just told me that I was the best president.
According to Ye, Trump was angry.
The rapper said that Trump screamed at him at the table telling him he was going to lose. I hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. You're talking to Ye.
The article was first published on NBC News.
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