Former President Donald Trump has been awarded an honorary black belt in taekwondo by the South Korean president of the World Taekwondo Headquarters.
Lee Dong-seop, the president of the headquarters also known as Kukkiwon, visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday to do the honors. Trump received a 9th Dan Black belt, which is the highest level that professional martial artists can attain.
‘It is my pleasure and honor to receive this honorary certificate,’ said Trump, 75, according to the Daily Mail. ‘Taekwondo is a great martial art for protecting oneself in these times.’
The ex-president also said, ‘I wish to see Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team’s demonstration’, LADbible reported.
Trump also said that he would wear a taekwondo suit in Congress if he is elected president again in the future, according to the South Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo.
Lee’s visit to Trump’s residence is believed to have been arranged by a South Korean living in the US.
‘I heard that the Donald Trump is highly interested in taekwondo,’ Lee said.
Trump is not the only president who has been awarded a 9th Dan Black belt.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was presented one and made a grandmaster of taekwondo when he visited South Korea in 2013. Putin does not practice taekwondo.
The same day that Trump received the honorary black belt, he congratulated teenager Kyle Rittenhouse after a jury found him not guilty of any charges for fatally shooting two men and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020.
‘Congratulations to Kyle Rittenhouse for being found INNOCENT of all charges,’ Trump stated.
‘It’s called being found NOT GUILTY – And by the way, if that’s not self defense, nothing is!’
In a separate statement, Team Trump called the Rittenhouse trial ‘nothing more than a WITCH HUNT from the Radical Left’ and asked supporters to donate to the online WinRed platform.
‘They want to PUNISH law-abiding citizens, including a CHILD, like Kyle Rittenhouse, for doing nothing more than following the LAW.’
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