According to excerpts from John Bolton’s juicy new tell-all, The Room Where It Happened, President Trump became obsessed with delivering the perfect gift to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018: a signed CD that contained Elton John’s hit song “Rocket Man,” which was not signed by John, but rather by Trump himself. Trump, a longtime fan of John’s music, delegated Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to handle the task while he was overseas. “Getting this CD to Kim,” Bolton writes in the book, “remained a high priority for several months.” Bolton’s sources added that Trump believed this gesture would impress John, given the amount of publicity the gift would generate. “The president said something like, ‘Boy, I bet Elton will get a kick out of this!’” said a former senior administration official. “It seemed like he hadn’t spoken to Elton in a while. I know from my conversations with the president that he finds it regrettable that he and Elton haven’t been closer during his presidency.”
John has been a constant bullet point throughout Trump’s first term as president. Back in 2016, John politely declined to be a headliner for Trump’s inauguration, saying that “as a British National I don’t feel that it’s appropriate for me to play at the inauguration of an American President.” He also refused to let Trump use “Tiny Dancer” on the campaign trial, quipping, “I’m not a Republican in a million years. Why not ask Ted fucking Nugent?” A recent New York Times piece about their relationship claims that Trump, who frequently plays John’s music while working, considers the singer “something of a friend” — although the feelings aren’t reciprocated.
