A New York Post report says former NBA star Dennis Rodman will be among the privileged few to be in Singapore primarily to join the historic June 12 summit to be attended by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island.
Related Coverage:
https://thegoldwater.com/news/27741-It-s-Official-Trump-Reinstates-Singapore-Summit-With-North-Korea
Sources told the New York Post that Rodman will arrive in Singapore a day ahead of the summit. The bigger news is that the former teammate of legendary Michael Jordan could even be part of the negotiations.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">EXCLUSIVE: Dennis Rodman will be in Singapore for Trump-Kim summit <a href="https://t.co/3HR79asZwX">https://t.co/3HR79asZwX</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y1yszXbLdw">pic.twitter.com/Y1yszXbLdw</a></p>— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1004099423184523266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>< script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
One of the said sources told the media outlet that while many might question Rodman’s presence in the momentous meeting, and even raise their eyebrows at his participation, the ex-NBA player’s being part of the summit will surely be “huge for the ratings.”
Related Coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/24631-Did-Dennis-Rodman-Save-Us-from-Going-to-War-With-North-Korea
The source said: “A lot of times in situations that involve complex diplomacy countries like to identify ambassadors of goodwill and whether you agree with it or not Dennis Rodman fits the bill.”
Even Michael Madden, a visiting scholar of the US Korea Institute at SAIS-John Hopkins University and director of NK Leadership Watch, thinks that involving Rodman in the complex negotiations between Trump and Kim is not a bad idea, after all.
Madden says that Rodman for one holds the rare distinction of having met both Trump and Kim. Rodman had been a contestant twice on Trump’s reality television show Celebrity Apprentice. The former Chicago Bulls player has used basketball diplomacy in traveling to North Korea five times. Rodman even claims to have given Kim a copy of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal”, the Trump guide to hustle and deal-making in big business.
It is said that basketball has a long and important history and meaning for North Korea’s elite. Even before Rodman came to visit the isolated nation, in 2000 then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright presented Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong-il, with a basketball autographed by Michael Jordan. The ball is kept and exhibited in North Korea’s International Friendship Exhibition.
Basketball, of course, is considered part of the “soft power” of the U.S., being widely acknowledged as the country that invented the game. Kim has always shown a love for the sport, as it is also very popular in his country.
Rodman’s recent visits to North Korea have also been widely covered by the state media. While some see his likely participation in the summit as some sort of “comedy”, many argue that he can easily become some sort of a natural goodwill ambassador.
Reactions in social media range from those in support of Rodman and those who find his involvement funny.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Dennis Rodman will be in Singapore during President Trump's meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.<br><br>2018 is an incredible year.</p>— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) <a href="https://twitter.com/dhookstead/status/1004109745916186625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s 2019, President Trump and Dennis Rodman take to the stage to claim the Nobel Peace Prize for achieving the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. <br><br>It’s going to happen.</p>— Jack Thompson (@JackT94) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackT94/status/1004106407090769920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When I saw Dennis Rodman trending, I knew it had something to do with our North Korea diplomacy. Who would have thought this back in the day when we called him the worm? Dennis the diplomat.</p>— Ebony Noor, The Spiritual Anthropologist (@DarlingEbony) <a href="https://twitter.com/DarlingEbony/status/1004109858008981507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Of course <a href="https://twitter.com/dennisrodman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dennisrodman</a> will be in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Singapore?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Singapore</a> for the historic June 12 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpKimSummit?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TrumpKimSummit</a>. After all, you can't think <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthKorea?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NorthKorea</a> without thinking about 'the worm.' Let's do this! <a href="https://t.co/PPbe00PkIr">pic.twitter.com/PPbe00PkIr</a></p>— Adelle Malka Nazarian (@AdelleNaz) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdelleNaz/status/1004106941247787008?ref_src=twsrc%5Et
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pic of Dennis Rodman showing the calm and patience to deal with egotistical, authoritative leader <a href="https://t.co/sGcc1nMpiL">pic.twitter.com/sGcc1nMpiL</a></p>— Huw Hopkins (@hopkins_huw) <a href="https://twitter.com/hopkins_huw/status/1004348581527064577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2018/06/05/dennis-rodman-will-be-in-singapore-for-trump-kim-summit
Twitter: #MAGA #KeepAmericaGreat! #NorthKorea #Trump #KimJongUn #SingaporeSummit #DennisRodman #Diplomacy
