International

NYPost: Rodman considering trip to Singapore during US-North Korea summit

Dennis Rodman, the NBA Hall of Famer and noted friend of Kim Jong Un, could reportedly be visiting Singapore when President Trump is scheduled to meet with the North Korean leader on June 12.

Rodman will arrive in Singapore a day before the planned summit and could play a role in the negotiations, according to the New York Post.

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There has been no indication that Rodman would be involved in the summit, but a representative for Rodman, Darren Prince, told the news outlet that the trip to Singapore has not been confirmed, but that Rodman would be willing to go if his presence was necessary.

“He’s talked about it, but no final trip or plans have been made,” Prince said. 

Rodman has visited North Korea five times in the past and has previously taken credit for Trump and Kim discussing Pyongyang’s nuclear program. 

Rodman said in April that he helped Kim understand the president in 2017 by giving him a copy of Trump’s book, “The Art of The Deal.”

“I think he didn’t realize who Donald Trump was at that time,” Rodman said.

The White House announced on Tuesday that Trump will meet with Kim at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore.

Trump is getting daily briefings on North Korea and a team of U.S. officials is already in Singapore making final preparations, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. 

Trump briefly canceled the scheduled summit in May because of the “open hostility” North Korea showed toward the U.S. Then, last week, the president abruptly announced that the meeting was back on following an Oval Office meeting with North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol.

The U.S. was reportedly seeking a unilateral surrender of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, but Trump tempered those expectations when announcing the meeting was back on, saying it will likely take more than one sit-down to broker a nuclear agreement with North Korea.