Candace Owens photographed at the Parker New York hotel

Candace Owens has just been in the presence of Donald Trump.

“Two days ago,” she says. “To chat about black America.”

In the Oval Office?

“Yeah.”

We’re in a booth in a crowded burger joint hidden away in a hotel in midtown Manhattan.

Owens is wearing a black tunic with silver buttons over a white patterned shirt. She is very striking: large cheekbones, big brown eyes, straight black hair. We’re talking over the tops of the mustard and ketchup bottles and the stainless steel napkin dispenser, but she has a faraway look in her eyes. She’s thinking of President Trump.

“I didn’t expect him to look so …” she begins, then pauses.

I think she’s going to say “orange”. I nearly say it for her.