Dennis Rodman has delivered a message from President Donald Trump to North Korea sort of.

On Thursday, the former NBA player gave the country’s sports minister a copy of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal,” a present intended for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

It wasn’t signed by Mr. Trump, who was Mr. Rodman’s boss for two seasons of the “Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV show. Mr. Rodman has said his visit has nothing to do with the White House.

Some other highlights of what has so far been a low-key Pyongyang trip for the often flamboyant celebrity, who has visited the North four times before-

While his previous visits in 2013 and 2014 often drew controversy, Mr. Rodman has said this week he’s just here to meet old friends and have a good time.

Mr. Rodman also met North Korean Olympic athletes, including judo gold medalist An Kum Ae.

“All of you guys should be proud of yourselves, because, you know, a lot of people don’t give you guys credit, because this is such a small country, and not many people from North Korea can compete around the world,” Rodman said.

“An Old Friend”

Mr. Rodman, one of the only Westerners to have personally met Kim Jong Un, has been criticised for a prior trip where he sang “Happy Birthday” to Mr. Kim and suggested an American missionary was at fault for his own imprisonment in North Korea, remarks for which he later apologised.

But the Sports Minister made clear Mr. Rodman is viewed fondly in Pyongyang.

“In the past, our respected supreme leader met you several times and he used his precious time to watch the basketball match with the players you brought here. In the past he met you, so our people all know you well,” Mr. Kim Il Guk told Mr. Rodman. “And also we feel that you are an old friend.”

No Role In Student’s Release

Mr. Rodman’s arrival on Tuesday came just hours after the North decided to release Otto Warmbier, an American university student who had been imprisoned for 15 years with hard labor for trying to steal a propaganda banner.

Mr. Warmbier, who had been confined for 17 months, has apparently fallen into a coma not long after his confinement began and Pyongyang issued a statement on Thursday saying it decided to let him go for “humanitarian reasons.”

Officials in Washington and Pyongyang said Mr. Rodman played no role in the release. Behind-the-scenes discussions regarding Mr. Warmbier had been underway well before his visit.

The 22-year-old Warmbier, a University of Virginia undergraduate, was convicted and sentenced in a one-hour trial in North Korea’s Supreme Court in March 2016. He got 15 years in prison with hard labor for subversion after he tearfully confessed that he had tried to steal the propaganda banner.

The report of Mr. Warmbier’s release on the North’s official Korean Central News Agency made no mention of Mr. Warmbier’s health.

Although U.S. citizens are not banned from visiting North Korea, the U.S. State Department strongly advises against it.

With Mr. Warmbier’s release, three other Americans remain imprisoned in North Korea.