Kim Jong Un now owns The Art of the Deal

Kim Jong Un.
(Image credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is now the proud owner of a blueprint of President Trump's best strategizing techniques — 1987's The Art of the Deal. Former basketball player Dennis Rodman, who is a friend of Kim's, presented the book to the dictator during his fifth visit to North Korea, along with a mermaid jigsaw puzzle and Where's Waldo?, presumably gifts for Kim's daughter, The Washington Post reports.

Trump suggested on the campaign trail that the reason countries like the U.S. are in disarray is because "We need The Art of the Deal. We need the Art. They never read it in this administration. They're the only people that didn't read it." Maybe Rodman presented the book to Kim in the hopes that Kim can now get things sorted out over there?

Additionally, Trump and Rodman are also longtime friends; Rodman was on two seasons of Celebrity Apprentice. That being said, both Rodman and the State Department have waved off rumors that Rodman is visiting North Korea as an emissary of the White House.

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But while "North Korea deserves our attention for countless reasons," The Week's Harry J. Kazianis writes, "we don't need Dennis Rodman to remind us of it." Read more here.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.