 Former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman, center, is greeted by North Korea's Sports Ministry Vice Minister Son Kwang Ho, right, upon his arrival at Sunan International Airport on Tuesday, June 13, 2017,... (Associated Press) 
 
 PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Dennis Rodman, the former NBA bad boy who has palled around with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, flew back to Pyongyang on Tuesday for the first time in Donald Trump's presidency. He said he is "just trying to open a door" on a mission that he thinks his former "Celebrity Apprentice" boss would support. Trump's old apprentice 
 
 Speaking at the airport on Tuesday, Mr Rodman said: "I am pretty much sure that he [Trump] is happy with the fact that I am over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." Mr Rodman told reporters, "My purpose is to actually see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea, so that's the main thing." In Tokyo, a visiting senior U.S. official said Rodman is making the trip as a private citizen. The US state department said it is aware of his visit. But we have issued travel warnings to Americans and suggested they not travel to North Korea for their own safety," said US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, according to Reuters news agency. In 2014, Rodman arranged a basketball game with other former NBA players and North Koreans and regaled leader Kim with a rendition of "Happy Birthday." Mr Rodman had been a contestant on Mr Trump's reality TV show The Celebrity Apprentice that same year. Rodman tweeted that his trip was being sponsored by Potcoin, one of a growing number of cybercurrencies used to buy and sell marijuana in state-regulated markets.
– One of the world's weirdest bromances appears to be alive and well: Dennis Rodman has returned to Pyongyang for his first visit to North Korea since his former Celebrity Apprentice boss became president, the BBC reports. Rodman, who has described dictator Kim Jong Un as a "friend for life," told reporters he was "just trying to open a door" and he is sure President Trump will be "happy with the fact that I'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need," the AP reports. In a tweet, Rodman thanked Potcoin, a cybercurrency used in marijuana transactions, for sponsoring his trip. He wore a Potcoin T-shirt at the airport. Rodman's visit, the first since early 2014, comes at a time of growing US-North Korea tensions. "I know the Trump administration has been trying half-heartedly to start a dialogue with the North Koreans," analyst Joel Wit tells the Los Angeles Times. "It would be strange to use Dennis Rodman as an intermediary," he says, "but under the Trump administration a lot of things are possible that wouldn’t have been with other administrations." When Rodman suggested in 2014 that Trump was interested in visiting Pyongyang, Trump tweeted: "Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on Apprentice!"