Donald Trump’s appearance alongside Dennis Rodman backfired after the former NBA star unwittingly undermined the president’s height claims.
Rodman, 65, joined Trump’s entourage Thursday as the 80-year-old president spoke at a truck factory in Denton, Texas, before heading to the former NBA star’s alma mater, Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma, for another rally.
During his speech, Trump waxed poetic about getting to know North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un through the former NBA star, who has drawn widespread criticism for cozying up to Kim during trips to the repressive country.
“You know, when I wanted to get to know Kim Jong Un when we were having a problem—Kim Jong Un and I get along—but the one who knew him best was Dennis Rodman, because they asked Dennis to come over to North Korea to work with their basketball team,” Trump told the crowd. “Their basketball team wasn’t doing too well, right, Dennis? And Dennis worked with them. I’m not sure that he was able to do much with that particular team.”
While Trump and Rodman may share a fondness for the brutal despot, they do not share the same height.
The retired power forward stands a towering 6-foot-7, while the president claims he measures 6-foot-3.
But Trump’s supposed 6-foot-3 stature got a visual reality check when the two men stood side-by-side in a video posted on X by White House communications adviser Margot Martin.
The four-inch difference Rodman should have had on Trump looked far more pronounced, with the president appearing almost a head shorter as he craned his neck upward to meet the former NBA star’s gaze.
In the video, Trump called Rodman the “best rebounder in the history of basketball,” while Rodman responded by pointing to the president and said, “My friend, my friend.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s appearance with Rodman comes as he tries to reconnect with Kim, with whom he built an ultimately pointless rapport during his first term, while his other diplomatic efforts falter.
Trump previously had his height claim debunked in June, when he appeared side by side in the Capitol with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who is widely reported to stand 6-foot-4.
Despite their purported one-inch difference, the 65-year-old Republican leader towered over Trump. One photo in particular appeared to show Thune’s line of sight landing around the top of the president’s head.
Back in 2012, Trump listed his height at 6-foot-2 on his New York driver’s license, which Politico obtained through an open records request. But by 2018, his first White House medical report began listing him at 6-foot-3, as it did again in May.
