Donald Trump took time out from bashing his attorney general Jeff Sessions and making the Roseanne Barr racism storm all about himself to meet Kim Kardashian West and discuss the justice system.
Traversing the whole gamut of notable Kims – the president is seeking to solve a nuclear crisis with a potential meeting with Kim Jong-un soon – Trump met the fellow reality TV star in the White House on Wednesday, where she is reported to have asked for Alice Marie Johnson to be pardoned. Johnson is a 63-year-old grandmother who is serving a life sentence for a first-time non-violent drug offence.
Following the meeting, Trump tweeted a picture of the pair inside the Oval Office. He captioned it: “Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing.”
It is unknown exactly what was discussed during the meeting but afterwards Kardashian West tweeted her thanks to the president and said she hoped Johnson would be freed.
She wrote: “I would like to thank President Trump for his time this afternoon. It is our hope that the President will grant clemency to Ms. Alice Marie Johnson who is serving a life sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense.”
She added: “We are optimistic about Ms. Johnson’s future and hopeful that she – and so many like her-will get a second chance at life.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kim Kardashian arrives for meetings at the White House. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters
Vanity Fair magazine first reported Kardashian West was due to speak to Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.
Kardashian West is thought to have been involved in private discussions with Kushner and Ivanka Trump for several months.
Johnson is serving a life sentence without parole after being convicted of drug-related charges in 1997.
An online petition to grant clemency to Johnson, started by her daughter, currently has more than 250,000 signatures.
Kardashian West’s husband, Kanye West, has drawn criticism for his support of the president, and was pictured wearing a cap bearing the slogan, ‘Make America Great Again’, a phrase associated with Trump.
Earlier this month, Trump pardoned the heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson, who was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act for transporting a woman across state lines for “immoral purposes”.
Washington (CNN) Kim Kardashian West met with President Donald Trump and other officials, including senior adviser Jared Kushner, at the White House on Wednesday to discuss prison reform.
"Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing," the President tweeted following the afternoon meeting, posting a picture alongside a stoic Kardashian West in the Oval Office.
Kardashian West, who wore a black suit with bright yellow stilettos, was spotted leaving the White House with a small entourage about an hour after she arrived.
She departed in a black Chevrolet SUV parked inside White House grounds, a surprising level of access and courtesy. VIP guests of the White House usually are required to walk through a gate to board their vehicles. Though she did not roll down her windows to greet a gaggle of cameras awaiting her departure, an aide in the front seat was seen recording the reporters on a phone.
During the White House press briefing Wednesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders wouldn't provide further details on who Kardashian West was meeting, only saying, "She is expected to be here at the White House. I can confirm she'll be here. We'll keep you posted on any meetings that take place and what those look like."
Read More
North West refuses to believe that her beautiful mama Kim Kardashian has been transformed into a Disney princess! Youtuber and makeup artist Kandee Johnson teamed up with her bestie Kim Kardashian to bring one particular Disney princess to life! Did you like the new look on Kim? Let us know in the comments below!
KIM Kardashian has met with the President Donald Trump at the White House to make a high-profile case for prison reform and advocate on behalf of a grandmother who’s serving a life sentence for drug offences.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star arrived at the White House on Wednesday afternoon local time to meet with Jared Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser — who also oversees the administration’s push to overhaul the nation’s prison system.
It’s understood she reached out to Ivanka Trump, who put her in contact with her husband.
In a meeting which reportedly lasted “less than an hour”, the reality TV star urged President Donald Trump to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, 63, who has spent more than two decades behind bars and is not eligible for parole.
Kim Kardashian has left the White House.
Less than an hour here. https://t.co/XrcVCoxrr5 — Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 30, 2018
According to US media reports, Johnson’s conviction stemmed from her role in a multimillion-dollar drug ring that dealt thousands of kilograms of cocaine.
The New York Daily News also mocked the meeting with a fairly brutal front page and headline which read: “The Only Kim He Could Get.”
An overrated reality TV star met with Kim Kardashian https://t.co/aFly7MJdnU
Here's a look at Thursday's front... pic.twitter.com/3bAQo8ezDE — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 31, 2018
Afterwards, Mr Trump tweeted a fairly awkward photo of himself and Kardashian in the Oval Office.
Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing. pic.twitter.com/uOy4UJ41JF — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
Within seconds, the bizarro photo of this meeting of the minds became the talk of Twitter:
Show this tweet to someone in 2014 and their head would explode. https://t.co/QPaWOzF6em — Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) May 30, 2018
America. Officially eaten itself. https://t.co/0Qv7pNoasx — Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) May 30, 2018
This is America pic.twitter.com/9RBpzviDIL — Darren Hayes (@darrenhayes) May 30, 2018
OK, let's recap:
Donald Trump is president.
Kim Kardashian is heading to the White House to discuss policy.
A Russian journalist dead yesterday turns up at a presser today.
North Korea won't give up nukes but will open a burger chain as consolation.
The day isn't half over. — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) May 30, 2018
Kim Kardashian is speaking politics in the White House with Donald Trump. We have reached the end. 🤦🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/HELzkGCn3v — Saun Jones (@KeSaunJ) May 30, 2018
It’s really nice of Kim to check up on Melania. https://t.co/Idm0s5z8zG — Alex Anastassiou (@alexanasta_) May 30, 2018
from les deux to the oval office, a lot changes in a decade! pic.twitter.com/E4oGwByvwM — popculturediedin2009 (@pcd2009) May 30, 2018
please stop tweeting that photo — Calvin (@calvinstowell) May 30, 2018
Kardashian is one of the very few celebrities who have visited the White House since Mr Trump took office in 2016. She was seen posing for photos in front of the West Wing before entering the room.
In an interview with the website Mic, Kardashian said she had been incredibly moved by Johnson’s story, after seeing a video by the news outlet on Twitter.
She reached out to her longtime personal lawyer, Shawn Holley, to ask him to look at the case and is paying for a new legal team for Johnson.
Just last week, the president granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many saw as his racially charged conviction.
The pardon had been championed by actor Sylvester Stallone, who called Mr Trump personally to discuss the case.
WHO IS ALICE MARIE JOHNSON?
Alice Marie Johnson was convicted in 1996 on eight criminal counts related to a Memphis- based cocaine trafficking operation involving more than a dozen people. The 1994 indictment describes dozens of deliveries and drug transactions, many involving Johnson.
She was sentenced to life in prison in 1997, and appellate judges and the U.S. Supreme Court have rejected her appeals. Court records show she has a motion pending for a reduction in her sentence, but federal prosecutors are opposed, saying in a court filing that the sentence is in accord with federal guidelines, based on the large quantity of drugs involved.
A criminal justice advocacy site, CAN-DO, and one of Johnson’s attorneys say a request for clemency was rejected by former President Barack Obama. The reasons are unclear.
A 1997 Associated Press story on Johnson’s sentencing said she headed up a multimillion-dollar drug ring. But Memphis attorney Michael Scholl, who filed the latest court documents in her request for a sentence reduction, said she was not a leader in the cocaine operation.
“What is the purpose of putting a lady with no prior criminal record, on a nonviolent drug offense, in jail for her entire life?” he said in a telephone interview. “She’s a model inmate.” Scholl added that Johnson has admitted her wrongdoing, which is borne out in letters she has written to U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, who now oversees her case.
“Judge Mays I’m writing to you to express my deep remorse for the crime that I committed over 20 years ago. I made some bad choices which have not only affected my life, but have impacted my entire family,” she said in a February 2017 letter in the court record.
- with Wires
Kim Kardashian West is reportedly heading to the White House, and wants to ask President Donald Trump about a pardon for a 62-year-old grandmother who is serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug offence.
The reality television star came across the woman’s story on Twitter and reached out to White House adviser Ivanka Trump, who put her in touch with husband and fellow adviser Jared Kushner. Kardashian West is set to meet with Mr Kushner and other officials at the White House about the case of Alice Marie Johnson.
During the White House press briefing, Sarah Sanders said of Kardashian West's visit: “She is expected to be here at the White House. I can confirm she'll be here. We'll keep you posted on any meetings that take place and what those look like.” Vanity Fair reported that those meetings would include one with President Trump.
Prison reform has been a priority issue for the Mr Kushner, whose father Charles spent a year in a federal prison camp in 2005 after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering.
Alice Marie Johnson has served more than 20 years in prison. Earlier this month, more than 200,000 people signed an online petition in Johnson’s favour after Kardashian West highlighted her case on social media.
Jonson wrote in a piece for CNN from her jail in Aliceville, Alabama: “I am only one of thousands of first-time, nonviolent offenders given mandatory and lengthy prison terms after committing crimes under financial distress”.
Johnson had divorced after two decades of marriage and in the wake of losing her job and her youngest child’s death, she said she “made the biggest mistake of my life to make ends meet and got involved with people selling drugs”. She said she was a “telephone mule,” ferrying messages for a distributors and sellers.
Trailer for documentary about Cyntonia Brown, the woman Kim Kardashian is helping be freed from prison
On Wednesday morning, Kardashian West tweeted birthday wishes to Johnson, saying: "Today is for you".
Kardashian West told Mic that she wants to explain to Mr Trump that “just like everybody else, we can make choices in our lives that we’re not proud of and that we don’t think through all the way”.
Happy Birthday Alice Marie Johnson. Today is for you 🙏🏼✨ — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 30, 2018
Kardashian West, whose rapper husband Kanye West recently posted pictures on Twitter of him wearing the president’s signature, red “Make America Great Again” hat, has recruited her personal attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, to contact the White House on Johnson's behalf.
When appointed, one of the first moves Mr Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions made was to roll back a memo from the Obama administration that allowed for more lenient sentences for first-time drug offenders.
World news in pictures
50 show all World news in pictures
1/50 30 May 2018 A worker cleans up the Millenaire migrants makeshift camp along the Canal de Saint-Denis near Porte de la Villette, northern Paris, following its evacuation on May 30. More than a thousand migrants and refugees were evacuated early in the morning from the camp that had been set up for several weeks along the Canal. AFP/Getty
2/50 29 May 2018 Police and ambulances are seen at the site where a gunman shot dead three people, two of them policemen, before being killed by elite officers, in the eastern Belgian city of Liege. AFP/Getty
3/50 28 May 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Mamoudou Gassama, 22, from Mali, at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. Gassama living illegally in France is being honored by Macron for scaling an apartment building over the weekend to save a 4-year-old child dangling from a fifth-floor balcony. AP
4/50 27 May 2018 Migrants wait to disembark from the ship Aquarius in the Sicilian harbour of Catania, Italy Reuters
5/50 26 May 2018 Ireland awaits the official result of a referendum that could end the country’s ban on abortion. Co-Director of Together For Yes Ailbhe Smyth speaks to the media after exit polls suggested victory for the Yes campaign. PA Wire/PA Images
6/50 25 May 2018 Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at the 1st Precinct in Manhattan where he turned himself in to New York police for sexual misconduct charges. Reuters
7/50 24 May 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Konstantin Palace in Strelna, outside Saint Petersburg, on May 24, 2018 Getty Images
8/50 23 May 2018 People protest outisde the Tamil Nadu House after at least 10 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu, in New Delhi. ANI via Reuters
9/50 22 May 2018 People demonstrate in Paris during a nationwide day protest by French public sector employees and public servants against the overhauls proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, calling them an "attack" by the centrist leader against civil services as well as their economic security. AFP/Getty
10/50 21 May 2018 Newly appointed Catalan president Quim Torra arrives to visit jailed Catalan separatist politicians at the Estremera jail near Madrid. AFP/Getty
11/50 20 May 2018 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro casts his vote during the presidential elections in Caracas. Maduro was seeking a second term in power. AFP/Getty
12/50 19 May 2018 Channelized lava emerges on Kilauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone on Hawaii. The USGS said on its website that "a fast-moving pahoehoe lava flow that emerged from fissure 20... continues to flow southeast," with the quickest of three "lobes" progressing at 230 yards (210 meters) per hour. AFP/US Geological Survey
13/50 18 May 2018 Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school in Texas. Shrader said her friend was shot in the incident. Multiple people have been killed. Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP
14/50 17 May 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria. Reuters
15/50 16 May 2018 People hold flags with the state coat of arms of Russia as they drive along a bridge, which was constructed to connect the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula across the Kerch Strait. Reuters
16/50 15 May 2018 Palestinians run away from tear gas shot at them by Israeli forces during a protest in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank AFP/Getty
17/50 14 May 2018 A Palestinian demonstrator runs during a protest against the US embassy move to Jerusalem and ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba at the Israel-Gaza border. REUTERS
18/50 13 May 2018 A bullet hole on the window of a cafe in Paris, the day after a knifeman killed one man and wounded four other people before being shot dead by police AFP/Getty
19/50 12 May 2018 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on after receiving the 'Lamp of Peace, the "Nobel" Catholic award for "her work of conciliation for the peaceful cohabitation of peoples" at The Basilica Superiore of St Francis of Assisi in Italy. AFP/Getty
20/50 11 May 2018 Police forensics investigate the death of seven people in a suspected murder-suicide in Australia. Four children are among seven people that were found dead at a rural property in Osmington, near Margaret River. Detectives are investigating the incident, which was said to be treated as a murder-suicide, media reported. Two firearms were found at the scene, Western Australia Police said. EPA
21/50 10 May 2018 Missiles rise into the sky as Israeli missiles hit air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus, Syria. The Israeli military on Thursday said it attacked "dozens" of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. Reuters
22/50 9 May 2018 Iranian MPs burning a US flag in the parliament in Tehran. Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to a nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded "psychological warfare". President Hassan Rouhani also said Iran could resume uranium enrichment "without limit" in response to Trump's announcement. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency
23/50 8 May 2018 Newly elected Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinian addresses the crowd in Republic Square in Yerevan. The leader of protests that gripped Armenia for weeks was named the country's new prime minister on Tuesday, overcoming the immediate political turmoil but raising uncertainty about the longer term. AP
24/50 7 May 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin walks before his President inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow. Reuters
25/50 6 May 2018 Lava from a robust fissure eruption on Kilauea's east rift zone consumes a home, then threatens another, near Pahoa, Hawaii. The total number of homes lost within the Leilani Estates subdivision thus far is 21, and geologists from the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory do not expect the eruption to cease any time soon. A local state of emergency has been declared after Mount Kilauea erupted near residential areas, forcing mandatory evacuation of about 1,700 citizens from their nearby homes. The crater's floor collapsed on 01 May and is since then continuing to erode its walls and generating huge explosions of ashes. Several earthquakes have been recorded in the area where the volcanic eruptions continue, including a 6.9 magnitue earthquake which struck the area on 4 May. EPA/PARADISE HELICOPTERS
26/50 5 May 2018 Russian police carrying struggling opposition leader Alexei Navalny at a demonstration against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Thousands of demonstrators denouncing Putin's upcoming inauguration into a fourth term gathered in the capital's Pushkin Square. AP
27/50 4 May 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at an event to mark Karl Marx’s 200th birthday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. AP
28/50 3 May 2018 President Vladimir Putin meets with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Sochi, ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. AFP/Getty
29/50 2 May 2018 Supporters of opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan protest in Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia. Pashinyan has urged his supporters to block roads, railway stations and airports after the governing Republican Party voted against his election as prime minister. AP
30/50 1 May 2018 Cubans march during the May Day rally at Revolution Square in Havana. AFP/Getty
31/50 30 April 2018 The sky is the limit: A Saudi man and woman fly over the Arabian Sarawat Mountains in the first ever joint wingsuit flight in traditional dress. A symbolic leap of faith towards women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Alwaleed Philanthropies
32/50 29 April 2018 A general view for the damaged railway station in al-Qadam neighborhood, after it was recaptured from Islamic State militants, in the south of Damascus. According to media reports, the Syrian army continued the military offensive it has launched earlier this month against militant groups entrenching in southern Damascus and captured several neighborhoods, including al-Qadam and al-Assali and targeting the remnants of armed groups in al-Hajar al-Aswad and its surrounding in Damascus southern countryside. EPA
33/50 28 April 2018 Comedian Michelle Wolf attends the Celebration After the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Conservatives walked out after Wolf brutally ridiculed President Donald Trump and his aides during her piece. Getty
34/50 27 April 2018 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in raise their hands after signing on a joint statement North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in raise their hands after signing on a joint statement at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. The Korean War will be formally declared over after 65 years, the North and South have said. At a historic summit between leaders Kim Jong-Un and Moon Jae-in, the neighbouring countries agreed they would work towards peace on the peninsula with a formal end to the conflict set to be announced later this year. The pair agreed to bring the two countries together and establish a "peace zone" on the contested border. Korea Summit Press Pool via AP
35/50 26 April 2018 Women hold portraits of their relatives, who are victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters
36/50 25 April 2018 Rohingya refugees gather in the "no man's land" behind Myanmar's boder lined with barb wire fences in Maungdaw district, Rakhine state bounded by Bangladesh. Myanmar government said on April 15, it repatriated on April 14 the first family of Rohingya out of some 700,000 refugees who have fled a brutal military campaign, a move slammed by a rights group as a PR stunt ignoring UN warnings that a safe return is not yet possible. AFP/Getty
37/50 24 April 2018 President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, first lady Melania Trump and Brigitte Macron hold hands on the White House balcony during a State Arrival Ceremony in Washington. AP
38/50 23 April 2018 A boy walks on a pile of garbage covering a drain in New Delhi. Reuters
39/50 22 April 2018 Newly ordained priests lie on the floor as Pope Francis leads a mass in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. REUTERS
40/50 21 April 2018 South Koreans cheer during the welcoming event for the inter-Korean summit between South Korea and North Korea in Seoul. The inter-Korean summit is scheduled on April 27, 2018 at the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, agreed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. Getty
41/50 20 April 2018 A Palestinian slings a shot by burning tires on the Israel-Gaza border, following a demonstration calling for the right to return. Palestinian refugees either fled or were expelled from what is now the state of Israel during the 1948 war. AFP/Getty
42/50 19 April 2018 Outgoing Cuban President Raul Castro raising the arm of Cuba's new President Miguel Diaz-Canel after he was formally named by the National Assembly, in Havana. A historic handover ending six decades of rule by the Castro brothers. The 57-year-old Diaz-Canel, who was the only candidate for the presidency, was elected to a five-year term with 603 out of 604 possible votes in the National Assembly. AFP/Getty/www.cubadebate.cu
43/50 18 April 2018 Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces early presidential and parliamentary elections for June 24, 2018, at the Presidential Palace, in Ankara. Erdogan announced the snap elections, originally scheduled for November 2019, in a move that will usher in a new political system increasing the powers of the president. He said the new system needed to be implemented quickly in order to deal with a slew of challenges ahead, including Turkey's fight against Kurdish insurgents in Syria and Iraq. AP
44/50 17 April 2018 European lawmakers raise placards reading "Stop the War in Syria" in protest against airstrikes launched by the US, Britain and France in Syria last week criticizing the legitimacy of the operation, as French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Macron is expected to outline his vision for the future of Europe to push for deep reforms of the 19-nation eurozone and will launch a drive to seek European citizens' opinions on the European Union's future. AP
45/50 16 April 2018 People participate in a protest against the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua near Jammu, and a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh state, in Bangalore, India Reuters
46/50 15 April 2018 Fireworks are set off as the final performance takes place during the Closing Ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. PA
47/50 14 April 2018 The wreckage of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus, after the United States, UK and France launched strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime early on April 14 in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack after mulling military action for nearly a week. Syrian state news agency SANA reported several missiles hit a research centre in Barzeh, north of Damascus, "destroying a building that included scientific labs and a training centre" AFP/Getty
48/50 13 April 2018 Indian activists gather to show support for the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women Swati Maliwal, who is on a hunger strike against the alleged rapes in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, in New Delhi, India. According to news reports Maliwal is sitting on hunger strike demanding that authorities take strict actions against the alleged rapists. EPA
49/50 12 April 2018 Shi'ite pilgrims carry a symbolic casket outside Imam Moussa al-Kadhim's shrine to mark the anniversary of his death in Baghdad, Iraq Reuters
50/50 11 April 2018 Seasonal winds washed tons of debris ashore at Matahari Terbit beach, near Sanur, Bali, Indonesia. Reuters
However, the relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Sessions is publicly strained, with Mr Trump showing obvious frustration at Mr Sessions having to recuse himself from the FBI investigation into Russian election meddling, with Special Counsel Robert Mueller appointed soon after.. That investigation has been expanded under Mr Mueller as it also looks into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russia - something Mr Trump has called a "witch hunt".
Mr Trump has also proven himself wishing to listen to celebrities on issues. Just last week Mr Trump granted a pardon to African-American boxing legend Jack Johnson after meeting with actor and director Sylvester Stallone and boxer Lennox Lewis.
In 1913 the boxer was convicted for taking a woman across state lines for anything other than “moral” reasons. It is believed that he was found guilty because he was black and the woman, his girlfriend at the time, was white.
At the announcement, Mr Trump said: “They thought it was going to be signed in the last administration, and that didn’t happen.” By the time Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama left office, he had granted a record number of inmates clemency.
