Former President Donald Trump had to explain his “Little Rocket Man” reference to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un after the foreign leader did not understand the term referenced Elton John’s hit song, according to a new book.
Trump used the term on multiple occasions in 2017 and 2018 when talking to and about the North Korean dictator but claimed the term was supposed to be a “compliment” because “Rocket Man” is a “great song,” Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo detailed in his new book, Never Give An Inch: Fighting for the America I Love.
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Trump explained the term at a lunch meeting with Kim at the Singapore summit in 2018. When Trump asked the dictator if he knew who John was, he explained the reference, which reportedly earned laughs from those present.
“‘Rocket man,’ OK. ‘Little,’ not OK,” Kim said.
Pompeo said although Kim did not appreciate the “little” aspect of the term, it was fitting because the leader stood at approximately 5 feet, 5 inches and allegedly wore platform shoes to give him a boost.
“I watched from the meeting room and noticed immediately that my North Korean friend wore platform shoes that left him about a foot shorter than President Trump,” Pompeo wrote, according to Business Insider. “At somewhere around five feet five, Chairman Kim could not afford to give an inch — literally.”
Trump later gifted Kim with a cassette and a signed CD with the hit song. Trump reflected on the cassette gift to a Florida audience in 2021 and claimed it was a compliment.
“I called you Rocket Man — that was great — because I could see you, I could envisage you, sitting like you sit on a horse, on a saddle, sitting on a rocket flying over Japan,” Trump recalled.
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Pompeo’s book comes out as he considers a bid for the presidency in 2024. If he does elect to run for the Republican nomination, he would be running against Trump.
So far, Trump is the only person to announce his third bid for the White House, but Pompeo, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are all reportedly considering a bid.
