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Elton John: Donald Trump’s Rocket Man nickname for Kim Jong-un was ‘brilliant’ and ‘hilarious’

Speaking at Toronto film festival, John thanks Trump for support but does not endorse either candidate for November’s US election

Trump has frequently used the nickname, including during a diplomatic crisis between the US and North Korea in 2017, saying in an address to the United Nations: “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.” That frostiness thawed somewhat following meetings in 2018 and 2019, and according to Mike Pompeo’s 2022 memoir, Never Give an Inch, Trump ended up explaining the meaning of the nickname to Kim, who was not familiar with Elton John. It chronicles his music career as well as his personal life, with John saying in an emotional press conference on Friday: “On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records.

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