Dennis Rodman Gifts North Korean Minister The Art of the Deal
Dennis Rodman — the former basketball star, style sensation, and North Korea fan — arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday for his latest round of “basketball diplomacy,” which involves a topical piece of literature.
According to CNN, Rodman “was photographed presenting North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il Guk with a copy of Trump’s book, ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal.'”
Rodman, who supported President Trump in the 2016 election campaign and appeared on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, has made a number of trips to North Korea in the past, and is one of the few Americans to have met Kim Jong Un.
That Rodman is one of the few (if not only) people in the world with a relationship with both the hermit kingdom’s leader and Trump led to speculation the former basketball player was responsible for negotiating the release of jailed American Otto Warmbier from North Korea.
I made this helpful graphic to better understand current US diplomatic efforts… pic.twitter.com/fkcbdp89Bq
— colbyhall (@colbyhall) June 13, 2017
White House national security spokesman Michael Anton reassured reporters that Rodman played no part in the negotiation to release Warmbier, who was serving a 15-year sentence of hard labor after he tried to steal a propaganda poster from a Pyongyang hotel.
Anton added that he does not believe Trump has spoken with Rodman since taking office.
CNN notes:
Rodman has called Kim a “friend for life” and previously said that his relationship with the young leader — who’s been accused of executing hundreds of people to cement his authority — is primarily about basketball, not politics.
The five-time NBA champion has traveled to North Korea for informal “basketball diplomacy” a handful of times in the past and told CNN earlier this week at the airport in Beijing he hoped to do “something that’s pretty positive” before he boarded a plane bound for the reclusive state.
[image via screengrab]
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