Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has officially endorsed the upcoming historic diplomatic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Dennis Rodman has officially endorsed the Trump-Kim Jong Un summit
It actually kind of matters.
On its face, the endorsement is simply funny and deserving of an eye roll. But Rodman’s voice, oddly, carries at least some weight on this issue.
Here’s why: Rodman is one of three people on the planet who has met both Trump and Kim. (The others are Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who relayed to Trump earlier this month that Kim wanted to meet with him.)
Rodman appeared on Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” show in 2013, and he has traveled to North Korea numerous times over the years — once even singing “Happy Birthday” to Kim in 2014. (Kim is actually a massive basketball fan.)
Rodman has made no secret of his desire to serve as a potential go-between and seems to truly believe his brand of “basketball diplomacy” could help mend years of tense relations between the two countries.
Rodman told Stephen Colbert last December that he’s close enough to the North Korean leader that “he can discuss anything with me.”
“But the deal is I don’t discuss politics because that’s not my job,” Rodman added. “My job is to be a human being, to try and connect us with him.”
The US still doesn’t have an ambassador to South Korea. Just saying.
Correction: Three people have met with both Trump and Kim. A previous version said it was two.
