The United States has what would optimistically known as a tenuous relationship with North Korea at this point. They keep testing missiles and we keep moving in the Navy to shoot them down, should their dictator get any bad ideas. This bad relationship is rooted in a complete disregard for international demands that they dismantle their nuclear program and their dictator’s disregard for what most would consider the basic rights of his people.
This has caused President Trump and the reportedly mentally unstable Kim Jong-Un to be at a complete impasse. Jong-Un refuses to give up his capability to blow free nations off the face of the earth and the President refuses to back off and give him the space to practice his warcraft in peace. The strained relationship has no gone unnoticed by anyone who’s paying any attention.
One person who seems to be the exception to all of this hostility is former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman. Rodman apparently has special privileges in the generally less than friendly North Korea, and he has recently exercised them again. During his most recent trip to NK, he brought an unusual gift for the North Korean Dictator that some are hoping will mend fences. I guess we will see.
Via the Washington Post:
Dennis Rodman, the former basketball star who’s now on his fifth visit to Pyongyang, just presented a copy of “The Art of the Deal” to the North Korean leader. That means Kim — a man Trump has already called a “pretty smart cookie” — might be wise to Trump’s tactics if the two ever meet.
In the 1987 book, Trump lays out key principles to stick to during a negotiation — basically, the recipe to his success. These include mantras such as “think big” and “maximize your options.”
Rodman had hoped to see the 33-year-old North Korean leader — to whom he once sang “Happy Birthday” from the basketball court — during this latest visit to North Korea. That doesn’t appear to have happened yet.
The Trump book was certainly for Kim himself.
This may be a cheeky gesture on Rodman’s part.
Trump and Rodman know each other — the former NBA player was on “Celebrity Apprentice” — and Kim hosted Rodman in North Korea several times in 2013 and 2014. Rodman has called Kim a “friend for life” and tweeted that Trump “has been a great friend for many years.”
That makes the NBA hall of famer a link between Kim and Trump — and has provoked speculationthat Rodman has gone to North Korea as a kind of emissary for the president. The State Department has strongly denied that Rodman’s trip is anything other than a private one.
https://youtu.be/eXaYgk89wcg
President Trump is unconventional, yes, but I’m not sure that he’s quite ready to send former NBA stars to get a little sneaky bit of Trump into North Korea. Not only is that unlikely from a logistical standpoint, I don’t think that the President is really worried about Kim Jong-Un getting his tips and tricks about business, I think he’d rather that the dictator takes his advice on international policy.
Rodman is a free man and he can give what he wants to whomever he wants. That said, I think that as a private citizen acting alone the idea was brilliant. Props to Rodman for giving many of us our first smile when thinking about North Korea and Kim Jong-un.
(Source: Washington Post)
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