Story highlights Michael D'Antonio: President Trump's "Rocket Man" nickname for Kim Jong Un doesn't make any sense

Elton John's "Rocket Man" was an intrepid space explorer, not an aggressive dictator, D'Antonio notes

Michael D'Antonio is the author of the book "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success" (St. Martin's Press). The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) What do you do if you have just a single catchphrase -- like, say, "You're fired!" -- and you need something fresh, something resonant, to hold the public's interest? If you are President Trump, you borrow a song title from Elton John -- "Rocket Man" -- and start using it as a nickname for North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un even though it doesn't make any sense at all and makes you sound like someone's awkward dad trying to be cool.

Trump first tried out Rocket Man on Twitter , announcing, "I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!" Then he used the nickname in his first-ever address to the United Nations, saying "Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself."

Branding expert that he is, the President understood that his first use required a bit of elaboration. He made sure we knew his Rocket Man is North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, and inferred that good ol' President Moon was happy to chuckle about a situation that finds his country between two erratic leaders who could enter a conflict that could kill huge numbers of his people.

The fact that Trump's the nuclear face-off with Kim Jong Un is no laughing matter is not serious enough to persuade the President to forego his theft of a snappy title. Neither does Trump seem bothered by the fact that his use of it is a non sequitur and, perhaps, a little bit complimentary.

Elton John's Rocket Man was an intrepid space explorer. Kim Jong Un is a murderous tyrant. And he is so power-obsessed that he might enjoy being associated, in President Trump's mind, with the phallic might of a missile. Couldn't Trump have found more demeaning way to reference Kim? If he wanted to stick with Elton John, he could have called him Tiny Dancer.

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