Donald Trump thanks Kanye West for saying 'he is my brother' and saying he loves him

President Donald Trump has thanked rapper Kanye West for tweeting "he is my brother" and said the message was "very cool".

West has been on a Twitter spree of late after being silent on social media for several months. His tweet regarding the president said that people do not have to necessarily agree with Mr Trump "but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother".

It is unclear what prompted West's full-throated support of the controversial leader, but he also wrote: "I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought".

However, he also tweeted about an hour later that his wife, reality television star and critic of the president Kim Kardashian West, "wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don't agree with everything Trump does".

He also retweeted a picture of a mobile which was displaying Mr Trump's tweet and series of other images: one of him wearing the president's signature, red, "Make America Great Hat;" a picture of the hat signed by Mr Trump; and a screenshot of a text someone called "Malik" sent him which was an image of a flyer on which West's photo is below the text "Keep America Great" and the hashtag #Kanye2024.

West also recently split with his manager of three years Scooter Braun with no apparent explanation. His tweets of late have included philosophical musings like "I'm 40 years old and I'm just now becoming my parents child" and "fear takes strategy Unlearn linear thinking Hit you with these zig zag thoughts". They are often written without providing context.

Mr Trump and West share a propensity for tweeting sprees, the "Gold Digger" artist has tweeted more than 40 times on 25 April alone. He also has not limited his political preferences to Twitter. On 23 April West told radio station Hot 97: "I do love Donald Trump".

However, he also "love[s]" erstwhile presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as well, a point Mr Trump may have missed when tweeting out his thanks. The bitter rivalry between the president and former Secretary of State has played out on Twitter for the past two and a half years. But, West wrote in a tweet that followed his initial missive about being Mr Trump's "brother" that "for people In my life the idea of Trump is pretty much a 50 50 split but I don't tell a Hillary supporter not to support Hillary".

But, a search on Twitter showed he has only tweeted about Ms Clinton once. She did not respond to the "Touch the Sky" rapper the way Mr Trump did.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was also asked about the president's relationship with West, which appeared to begin around the time West paid a visit to Trump Tower in New York in December 2016 as part of a series of meetings then president-elect Trump had taken ahead of his inauguration.

West had defended the meeting in light of criticism from fans in a series of now-deleted tweets, writing that he had wanted to discuss "multicultural issues" with the soon-to-be leader. "I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change," West had written at the time.

Ms Sanders said: "I don't know of any conversation that they've had over the last week or so," Sanders said. "I'll keep you posted if that changes".

That meeting took place the month after West had been hospitalised for exhaustion after he ended a concert in Sacremento, California, and said that if he had voted in that month's election, he would have voted for Mr Trump.

​Kardashian West tweeted today as well in the wake of her husband's string of thoughts on life and politics. "To the media trying to demonize my husband let me just say this... your commentary on Kanye being erratic & his tweets being disturbing is actually scary. So quick to label him as having mental health issues for just being himself when he has always been expressive is not fair," she had written.

Specifically about West's thoughts on Mr Trump, Kardashian West said: "Most people (including myself) have very different feelings & opinions about this. But this is HIS opinion. I believe in people being able to have their own opinions,even if really different from mine He never said he agrees with his politics".

West is expected to release a new album this summer along with collaborations and albums he has produced for other artists.