Trump says Kanye West has 'performed a great service to the black community' as Twitter bromance escalates

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Kanye West pose for a picture in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016.

• President Donald Trump said Kanye West has "performed a great service to the black community" in a tweet on Friday morning, seemingly in reference to the rapper's recent praise of Trump.
• West professed his "love" for the president in tweets earlier this week. 
• The rapper's budding bromance with the president has been controversial.

President Donald Trump on Friday said Kanye West has "performed a great service to the black community," seemingly in reference to the rapper's recent praise of Trump.

"Kanye West has performed a great service to the Black Community - Big things are happening and eyes are being opened for the first time in Decades - Legacy Stuff! Thank you also to Chance and Dr. Darrell Scott, they really get it (lowest Black & Hispanic unemployment in history)," Trump tweeted.

On Wednesday, West took to Twitter to proclaim his "love" for the president and subsequently tweeted a selfie in which he was wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. Trump promptly thanked West for his praise in separate tweets. 

West's apparent affinity for the president has generated controversy, particularly given Trump's at-times racially charged rhetoric and policies.

But some, including Chancelor Jonathan Bennett (known professionally as Chance the Rapper), have come to West's defense. On Wednesday, Chance, who was referenced in Trump's tweet on Friday, tweeted, "Black people don't have to be democrats." 

Other celebrities, like John Legend, have urged West to consider the impact of his endorsement of Trump.

"I love that great, brilliant artists have the power to imagine a better future. But artists can't be blind to the truth," Legend tweeted Wednesday.

West's public embrace of the president has also led many on the far-right, including individuals such as Alex Jones of InfoWars, to applaud him.