Dennis Rodman’s friendly relationship with Kim Jong Un is well documented, and the former NBA star says he wants to use it to help quash the growing tensions between U.S. president Donald Trump and the North Korean leader.
“I just want to try to straighten things out for everyone to get along together,” Rodman said on TV talk show Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning.
Rodman says he and Kim don’t discuss politics during his visits.
“I basically hang out with him all the time. We laugh, we sing karaoke, we do a lot of cool things together,” Rodman said. “We ride horses, we hang out, we go skiing. We hardly ever talk politics, and that’s the good thing about that.”
Rodman, who appeared on Celebrity Apprentice twice and says he “loves Donald Trump,” believes that the American president should reach out to the North Korean leader.
“If the President even tries to reach out for Kim, I think it would be a great possibility things can happen.”
North Korea has conducted a series of nuclear and missile tests over the last couple of months, the latest in which the country says it detonated a hydrogen bomb. The tests have been met with sharp criticism from the international community and strong words from Trump.
Trump has said that "now is not the time to talk to North Korea" and that "all options remain open to defend the United States and its allies."
— With files from Associated Press