‘Am I Supposed to Be in on This?’: Kid Rock Recalls Trump Asking Him How to Handle North Korea

Former President Donald Trump once asked Michigan-born Kid Rock what he should do with North Korea, the entertainer revealed recently. He admitted he wasn’t “qualified” to offer advice.

Need to Know

• Kid Rock and Donald Trump developed a golfing friendship where they discussed sensitive political issues.
• The Michigan-born rocker has a history of espousing racist and sexist beliefs.
• Trump failed to negotiate a disarmament deal with North Korea. 

While in office, Former President Donald Trump sought out political advice on delicate issues from Michigan rockers Kid Rock and Ted Nugent, better known for their brash—at times offensive—bad boy personas than foreign affairs and diplomacy. 

But that didn’t stop Trump from asking sensitive questions about international relations, including about how he should handle the rising threat of North Korea, according to Kid Rock.

To quote a 1998 song written by the genre-bending superstar, only God knows why.

“Am I supposed to be in on this shit?” Kid Rock recalled during a recent interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “Like I make dirty records sometimes. I do.”

During a White House visit in 2017, Trump acquainted himself with the two musical artists, who came at the invitation of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, and Trump developed a friendship and continue to golf together.

Kid Rock, during the March 21 interview, recounted Trump probing his opinion on the wording of a tweet he’d drafted threatening terrorist groups in the Middle East. 

The Romeo-born rockstar seemingly grasped the absurdity of the request, laughing during the interview.

Trump another time, Kid Rock said, asked him, “what should we do about North Korea?” 

“I’m like, ‘What?’” Kid Rock responded. “I don’t think I’m qualified to answer this.”

During Trump’s tenure, US policy toward North Korea shifted dramatically. In 2019, Trump became the first sitting US president to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who has a litany of human rights abuse allegations levied at him and was in the process of developing nuclear weapons. 

Despite their meeting and Trump’s friendly account of Kim, the then-president failed to strike a deal that would cut off the country’s weapon expansions and tests, which often threaten South Korea, a US ally.

Trump will be in Michigan on Saturday for a rally to prop up Republican candidates for state and federal offices.