Rodman visits Guam, says North Korean leader doesn't want war

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un doesn’t want war, nor does he want to bomb Guam, said former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman. The former NBA superstar said he would lay down his life for world peace.

Rodman, who is on Guam until Saturday, said his trip here was more about curiosity and it was not politically motivated. He wasn’t getting paid to come to Guam, he said, and in the few hours he spent here before meeting with the media at 10 a.m. Thursday, Rodman summed up Guam as:

“Paradise,” he said. “The weather is warm, the people here are so friendly … I’ll be around … hopefully do some really cool things and stuff like that … see the night life, the clubs, the beaches … smoke some cigars. Peace, love … and no war.

“And don’t forget Donald Trump said this,” he added, pointing to his T-shirt with the word UNITE emblazoned across the bottom. The shirt featured a smiling Rodman in between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Rodman, who has made several trips to North Korea in recent years, described Kim as a big kid, and said he doesn’t talk politics with him. He talks basketball.

“I try and stay out of it. I try to just be his friend, and play sports, and that’s my whole thing,” said Rodman. “No politics, no nothing about America against North Korea, we don’t talk about stuff like that. To me, he does not want to have war … it may sound like that on the news, but I see that Donald Trump and him … it’s more like two big kids deciding who’s the toughest.”

“I don’t know why he would, in my eyes, remotely even think about bombing anything in the world. I’ve never heard him say anything like that to my face, and we talk all the time. So I think it’s more like politics throughout the years between the U.S. and North Korea."

Rodman said that while here, he’d like to visit schools, visit as many military personnel as possible and have a good time. He was joined by his marketing agent Chris Volo. Rodman said that although his trip was sponsored, he was not getting paid to be on Guam.

“I just came here to try and see if I could bridge the gap, and show the leader of North Korea that I’m not afraid to come here and if something even happened, I’ll be here. For Guam. If anything happens, I’ll be here. If you guys can take the punishment, I’ll take the punishment too. I’m respecting the fact that this is gonna calm down, there ain’t gonna be no bombing, nothing like that. And no matter what’s going on, when you walk out that door, people are smiling. People are happy here. And the economy, it’s gonna come back, don’t worry about it.

Rodman said he invited Trump to join him on his next trip to North Korea, but also later said that Trump has a big ego and did not like to share the spotlight. Rodman said his next trip to North Korea would be very soon.

“I’m here. I’m here to listen, to make sure everything’s cool. But I’m only one man.”