Former NBA star Dennis Rodman will join his mate Kim Jong-un in Singapore next week when the reclusive North Korean leader meets US President Donald Trump, according to reports.
Mr Kim and Mr Trump's meeting is set to take place next Tuesday on June 12 at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island, and it's understood Mr Rodman will arrive in Singapore the day before.
Mr Rodman's rep, Darren Prince, told the New York Post Rodman hasn't confirmed he'll be attending the meeting, but has said he'd be willing to go.
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Mr Rodman has visited North Korea five times after striking an unlikely 'bromance' with the rogue nation's leader. Sources told the New York Post Mr Rodman could likely play a role in the negotiations between Mr Trump and Mr Kim - perhaps as a mediator.
Mr Kim apparently didn't warm to Mr Trump until Mr Rodman gave him a copy of Trump's ghost-written book The Art of the Deal for his birthday in 2017, the ex-basketball player known as 'The Worm' told TMZ in April.
"I think [Kim] didn't realise who Donald Trump was at the time, I guess, until he started to read the book and started to get to understand him. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are pretty much the same," Mr Rodman said.
Mr Rodman said his ambition was to "go over and be a sports ambassador to North Korea so people understand how the people are in North Korea," adding that he "doesn't want to take all the credit" for Mr Kim coming around to Mr Trump.
Mr Rodman is "just hoping for a great historic outcome," said Mr Prince.
When the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim was first arranged, there was speculation Mr Trump could be in line for the Nobel Peace Prize. But only a few weeks later Trump cancelled the summit, citing "tremendous anger and open hostility" from the North Koreans.
Now, the on-again, off-again and highly anticipated meeting is back on, the US President confirmed last week.
In the past, Mr Trump and Mr Kim have traded insults - the US President, usually through Twitter, and Kim, through North Korea's state media outlets.
Mr Trump has called Kim a "maniac", "madman" and "Rocket Man", warned of "fire and fury" and boasted about the size of his "nuclear button".
In turn, the North Koreans have called Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard" and regularly threatened to strike its much larger enemy.
Newshub.
