Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote in her memoir that President Trump joked in 2018 that she should hook up with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after he winked at her, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
Sanders’s book detailed that the president teased her, encouraging her to “go to North Korea and take one for the team” after the officials had met Kim during a summit in Singapore in June 2018. A copy of the book, titled “Speaking for Myself” and slated to be released on Tuesday, was obtained by The Guardian.
The former press secretary’s book differs from past releases from former White House employees who have released tell-alls criticizing the president. The daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) praises Trump in her book, which is subtitled, “Faith, Freedom and the Fight of Our Lives Inside the Trump White House.”
But Sanders does highlight controversial, misogynistic incidents involving her, Trump and his aides, according to The Guardian.
For the Singapore meeting, Sanders claims she was taking notes when she looked up “to notice Kim staring at me.”
“We made direct eye contact and Kim nodded and appeared to wink at me,” she wrote, according to The Guardian. “I was stunned. I quickly looked down and continued taking notes.”
“All I could think was, ‘What just happened? Surely Kim Jong-un did not just mark me!?’” she added.
The then-White House press secretary said she recounted the incident to Trump and his then-chief of staff John Kelly in the limousine while heading to the airport.
“Kim Jong-un hit on you! He did! He f—— hit on you!” Trump reacted, with The Guardian noting she did not spell out the expletive.
She reportedly responded to Trump saying that was not what she meant, adding, “Sir, please stop.”
Sanders wrote that Trump joshed: “Well, Sarah, that settles it. You’re going to North Korea and taking one for the team! Your husband and kids will miss you, but you’ll be a hero to your country!”
She then said Trump and Kelly, who she said backed the president, “howled with laughter.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Singapore summit between North Korea and the U.S. was the first-ever meeting between leaders of the two countries and resulted in an agreement for peaceful relations and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, among other deals.
However, talks with North Korea have stalled in the past year.