Former basketball and reality TV star Dennis Rodman told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Monday evening that the White House had called him to thank him for his role in advocating for diplomacy between North Korea and the U.S.

Rodman, speaking from Singapore as President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the first time, appeared on Cuomo’s new show, Cuomo Prime Time, and suggested that his role had been something more than a media stunt (transcript via CNN):

CUOMO: [D]id you hear from the White House at all today? RODMAN: Well, yes, I did. But and a good thing about it, yes, Donald Trump reached out. He called, his secretary and she called me and said, Dennis, Donald Trump is so proud of you, and he thanks you a lot. And that means a lot, you know, because all of these years, the fact that I somewhat had something to do with this North Korea situation, but I don’t want to take any credit where credit is due. I think we all need to take credit. I’m just here — I’m just so thankful to be here. I’m glad — the fact that this is happening, the world saw it, I saw it. And my kids saw it. So, you know what? I hope for the best. We don’t need a miracle. We don’t need a miracle. But we need the doors to be open, so we can start fresh and make this a better place and world, baby, that’s it.

The “secretary” in question was later revealed to be White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

As Breitbart News’ Frances Martel noted Monday evening, Rodman had, controversially, “cultivated a closer relationship to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un than any other American.” He also knew Trump from his role in Celebrity Apprentice.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.