Rock star Elton John said former President Trump’s nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “was hilarious” in a video from Variety.
“When he did that, I just thought it was hilarious,” John said in the video posted Sunday, referring to Trump’s history of calling the North Korean leader “Rocket Man” or “Little Rocket Man.”
“It made me laugh,” John continued.
The former president has had a complicated relationship with Kim in recent years, from calling him a “maniac” in a GOP debate back in 2015 to telling famed journalist Bob Woodward he had “good chemistry” with him in an audiobook released in 2022.
“Donald’s always been a fan of mine, and he’s been to my concerts many, many times,” John also said in the Variety video. “So, I mean, [I’ve] always been friendly towards him. … I thank him for his support.”
John performed at the White House in September 2022 and received a National Humanities Medal from Biden. In the Variety interview, he declined to explicitly pick a side in the upcoming election but pointed to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s warning about Trump.
“America is in a very volatile position at the moment. And it’s a country I love, and I’ve always loved, and I’m so thankful that it made me who I am,” he said.
“So, I just want people to vote for things that are just, things … important to people: the right to choose, the right to be who you are, and not let anybody else tell you who to be. And that goes … all the way up to the Supreme Court.”
Trump took a swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a podcast episode from April of last year using the “Rocket Man” moniker.
“I should call him Rocket Man, but now he’s Rocket Man that’s crashing,” Trump said of DeSantis. “His polls are terrible. I’m leading him in every state.”
Trump’s comments came before DeSantis launched his presidential campaign, in which he failed to defeat the former president. He dropped out of the GOP primary in January and has since endorsed Trump.