Trump holds surprise meeting with Kanye West and people are not happy about it

President-elect Donald Trump welcomed an unusual guest to Trump Tower on Tuesday — rapper Kanye West.

West, 39, the hip-hop mogul and husband of reality TV star Kim Kardashian, posed with Trump in the lobby of the Manhattan building. Reporters asked questions about whether West will perform at Trump's inauguration, but they didn't answer.

Trump said the two are "friends," and they discussed "life" in their 15-minute meeting.

"We've been friends for a long time": Kanye West and President-elect Trump appear together at Trump Tower https://t.co/QoofBJzY1x pic.twitter.com/DK6z1P9LhG

— CNN (@CNN) December 13, 2016

West has recently suffered publicly from backlash over being booed at a San Jose, California, concert and for saying that he supports Trump, even though he didn't vote for him. West was released from a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital last month, and this was his first major appearance, Fox Business reported.

Groups like VoteVets immediately issued statements criticizing Trump for taking the time to meet with West but not for intelligence briefings.

"Donald Trump believes it is more important to meet with Kanye West, than receive security briefings," VoteVets Chairman Jon Soltz said in a statement. "Our troops deserve better than that from a Commander in Chief. This is not funny, it is not OK. We urge American media to not treat it as such.”

The meeting also caused mockery and outrage across the internet, particularly when placed in contrast to recent atrocities in Syria.

Word is Kanye and Trump have been in the lab co-writing some [fire] tweets. Apple is even considering making a larger, signature caps lock.

— josh groban (@joshgroban) December 13, 2016

Transition Team: Newsweek has an in-depth story on your business conflicts.

Trump: What's the biggest distraction out there?

Kanye: Hello?

— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) December 13, 2016

TRUMP: I'm basically a nihilist w/ no beliefs other than courting fame thru controversy

KANYE: me 2

TRUMP: Did we just become best friends?

— Mike Tunison (@xmasape) December 13, 2016

Kanye: I ain't saying she's a gold digger.

Trump: Why not? None of that PC nonsense matters here. Come over here, Melania. Kanye, say it.

— (((OhNoSheTwitnt))) (@OhNoSheTwitnt) December 13, 2016

Kanye: What's your favorite song of mine

Trump: The one where you talk about how great NYC is

Kanye: That's Jay-Z pic.twitter.com/B8azRMgQVD

— Joe Zappulla (@ZappullaJ) December 13, 2016

If your a producer or editor & run a story on trump & Kanye today & don't mention the genocide happening in Aleppo you've failed completely.

— Sean Maguire (@sean_m_maguire) December 13, 2016

There is a literal *Genocide* in #Aleppo right now and the international media is more interested in Kanye being photographed with Trump.

— ((( H@roon دشید ))) (@HaroonRsh) December 13, 2016