Former United States president, Donald Trump recently received an honorary ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo at his Palm Beach, Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.
Trump, the 45. United States president from 2017 to 2021, received an honorary ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo from Kukkiwon president, Lee Dong Seong with the sport governing body president claiming that he “heard that Donald Trump is highly interested in Taekwondo” as per a quote by Korean outlet, Dong-A-Ilbo.
Posting several pictures on their official Facebook page, Kukkiwon maintained in a disclaiming caption that the ceremony involving the former United States president was “not related [to] any other political issues.“
“It is my pleasure and honor to receive this honorary certificate,” Dong-A-Ilbo quoted Donald Trump as saying. “Taekwondo is a great martial art for protecting oneself in these times (when COVID-19 prevails).“
Reports also claim that Trump confirmed he would wear his taekwondo gi to Congress should he be elected to as the United States president for a second time, as well as issuing an invite to the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration team to the United States in order to perform.
Donald Trump receives an honorary ninth-degree Taekwondo black belt
Trump, who has never actually practiced Taekwondo, joins Russian president, and Judo black belt Vladimir Putin to receive an honorary ninth-degree Taekwondo black belt during a 2013 visit to Seoul, South Korea.
Campbell McLaren, a co-creator of the UFC and the current CEO of Combate Global gave his thoughts on Trump receiving an honorary ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo — confirming his skepticism of the martial art as a whole.
“In the early days of UFC we called TKD [Taekwondo] “Take Your Dough” because you could but a belt at many dojos,” McLaren tweeted. “I’ve been glad to see TKD’s recent influence on MMA.“
Trump recently featured in a special commentary booth at a Triller Fight Club event back in September where former undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort stopped former professional boxing champion, Evander Holyfield in a dominant one-sided, eventual exhibition bout.