Former NBA star Dennis Rodman became emotional during an interview Monday evening, calling the historic summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore as “a great day” after he received death threats for his outreach efforts to the rogue nation.
“I was the only one. I never had no one to hear me. I had no one to see me. But I took those bullets, I took all of that,” Rodman said on CNN of knowing “things were going to change” for North Korea, despite threats on his life.
“Everybody came at me and I am still standing. And today is a great day for everybody,” he continued, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
“Today is a great day,” former NBA star Dennis Rodman says in an emotional interview in which he describes his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un https://t.co/eoNeZnYFm7 pic.twitter.com/6gouUPBBpX
— CNN International (@cnni) June 12, 2018
When pressed on why he took such an interest in North Korea, Rodman said he “fell in love with country” during a basketball exhibition tour in 2013, describing Kim as a “big kid.”
“He is a good friend to me. I don’t see the politics of this whole situation. I don’t want to see that. I want to see that to go away,” he added, dismissing concerns about the brutality of Kim’s regime.
Rodman, who is in Singapore, said he had been in contact with one of Trump’s secretaries Monday, who relayed how the president was “proud” of him for his diplomatic endeavors.
[Opinion: Here’s why it’s good that Dennis Rodman is going to Trump’s summit with North Korea]
Former NBA star @dennisrodman, one of the few known to have met both President Trump and Kim Jong Un, says the White House called today to say thanks and that the President is “so proud of you” https://t.co/oaMBT2GQ3n pic.twitter.com/Vvijpah5yP
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 12, 2018
He also implored Trump to go into the scheduled meetings with “a great heart, with his heart on the table” and let Kim “see him.”
.@dennisrodman’s advice to President Trump: Go into Kim Jong Un meeting with your “heart on the table,” and focus on the future https://t.co/oaMBT2GQ3n pic.twitter.com/hZOllUFENA
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 12, 2018
Trump and Kim exchanged a historic handshake just after 9 a.m. Tuesday morning Singapore time, as they greeted each other for the first time in front of a display of American and North Korean flags.
Trump and Kim met briefly with translators before opening up their bilateral discussion to aides from both delegations at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island.
