What do you get the dictator who has everything? Dennis Rodman's weird gifts for Kim Jong-un
From The Art of the Deal to Where's Waldo?, the basketball star has the perfect pressies for Pyongyang's leader
As diplomats go, he is perhaps one of the most unusual. Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea in his one-man mission to change the world via his pioneering model of "basketball diplomacy".
The former basketball star, a friend of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, touched down in the reclusive dictatorship on Tuesday, the Daily Beast reports, in a piece headlined: "Dennis Rodman's North Korea trip just saved the world".
How has the American done this? With a unique selection of gifts.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
More precisely, Rodman is handing over a copy of The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump's ghostwritten 1987 bestseller - although the BBC thinks it might be unnecessary.
"Mr Kim has at his disposal ways and means of negotiating which would be unpalatable even to a New York real estate developer," it says. This is the man, after all, allegedly responsible for executing hundreds of people, including members of his family.
Rodman's choice of gift has raised speculation that he could be there as a secret emissary of the government. After all, he's probably the only person in the world who can call both leaders friends, after appearing on Trump's Celebrity Apprentice.
He told CNN he hoped to do "something that's pretty positive" before he boarded a plane bound for the reclusive state.
But sadly, "the State Department has strongly denied that Rodman’s trip is anything other than a private one", the Washington Post reports.
However, Rodman also took with him a mermaid puzzle - and that, the BBC believes, feeds the "Rodman as secret ambassador" theory.
"Either they're both lying, and the mermaid puzzle, ingeniously, once completed, carries a coded message, or they're telling the truth, and one of Dennis Rodman's gifts to the leader of North Korea was a mermaid puzzle," it says.
And finally, there is a copy of Where's Waldo? Totally Essential Travel Collection, the US version of Where's Wally?.
What does this signify? No one has a clue, especially since Kim rarely, if ever, leaves his country.
The Washington Post speculates the puzzle and the Where's Waldo? are for Kim's young daughter, whom Rodman has met. We prefer to think they are for the leader himself.
Oh, and there were some fancy soaps as well, because gift-buying for one of the world's most notorious dictators is apparently similar to finding something for your mother-in-law.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Ecuador's cloud forest has legal rights – and maybe a song credit
Under the Radar In a world first, 'rights of nature' project petitions copyright office to recognise Los Cedros forest as song co-creator
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - November 3, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - presidential pitching, wavering convictions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sweden clears final NATO hurdle with Hungary vote
Speed Read Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's accession to NATO
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published