Former NBA star Dennis Rodman will be present in Singapore during President Trump’s upcoming meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, just in case his expertise is needed, the New York Post reports.
“No matter what you might think about his presence. One thing’s for sure the ratings will be huge,” a source told the Post. “A lot of times in situations that involve complex diplomacy countries like to identify ambassadors of goodwill and whether you agree with it or not Dennis Rodman fits the bill.”
Rodman is already an unofficial American ambassador to North Korea, making several trips to the country and as the New York Times points out, gaining rare access to leadership while there. Rodman told TMZ in April that the North Korean leader understood the president much better after reading his ghost-written book The Art of the Deal, which Rodman gifted him for his birthday in 2017.
“I think [Kim] didn’t realize who Donald Trump was at that time, I guess, until he started to read the book and started to get to understand him. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are pretty much the same,” Rodman said.
“I don’t want to take all the credit. I don’t want to sit there and say, ‘I did this, I did that.’ That’s not my intention,” Rodman clarified.
“My intention was to go over and be a sports ambassador to North Korea so people understand how the people are in North Korea. I think that has resonated to this whole point now.”
The summit is scheduled to take place on June 12.
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