Former President Donald Trump has been awarded an honorary black belt in taekwondo, Daily Mail reports.
Over the weekend, Kukkiwon - which is also known as the World Taekwondo Headquarters, and is home to the World Taekwondo Academy - gifted the 75-year-old Republican a 9th Dan Black belt (the very highest level that professional martial artists can reach).
Lee Dong-seop, the president of Kukkiwon, visited Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, to honor the taekwondo enthusiast. The visit was reportedly arranged by a South Korean resident in the US.
"I heard that Donald Trump is highly interested in taekwondo," Lee said, per Daily Mail.
Per Kukkiwon, when the ex-POTUS was given the black belt and accompanying certificate, he said: "It is my honor to receive Honorary Dan Certificate and I think Taekwondo is a magnificent martial art for self-defense. I wish to see Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team's demonstration."
According to South Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo, Trump also that he would wear his taekwondo suit in Congress if he's ever re-elected back into office.
Back in 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has never practiced taekwondo, also received a black belt and was made a grandmaster of taekwondo during a visit to South Korea, Independent reported at the time.
Shortly before Trump was presented with the black belt, the former US leader congratulated Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old man who was found not guilty on all charges in his homicide trial after he shot and killed two men at Black Lives Matter protests last summer.
On Friday, November 19, Trump said in a statement: "Congratulations to Kyle Rittenhouse for being found INNOCENT of all charges. It's called being found NOT GUILTY—And by the way, if that's not self-defense, nothing is!"
Rittenhouse, who was just 17 at the time of the shooting, had been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
He denied all the charges and maintained that he acted in self-defense. Last week, he was acquitted by a 12-person jury.
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