VIDEO Rodman's gift to North Korean leader: Trump's book 'Art of the Deal'

Former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman, left, presents a book titled "Trump The Art of the Deal" to North Korea's Sports Minister Kim Il-guk in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday. / AP-Yonhap

By Park Si-soo

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman on Thursday gave North Korea’s sports minister a copy of U.S. President Donald Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal” as a gift for the reclusive nation’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Photos from The Associated Press showed Rodman handing over the book to the minister Kim Il-guk. Rodman has been visiting North Korea since Tuesday.

It is uncertain whether the book was delivered to Kim.

Rodman has called Kim a “friend for life” and previously said his relationship with the young leader is primarily about basketball, not politics.

The five-time NBA champion has traveled to the North for informal “basketball diplomacy” a handful of times. He told CNN earlier this week at Beijing airport before he boarded a plane for Pyongyang that he hoped to do “something that’s pretty positive.”