Heavily bronzed and freshly coiffed, US President Donald Trump’s doppelganger said he had come to Hanoi to meet with a lookalike of North Korean Kim Jong-un to end the North’s nuclear ambitions and maybe play a bit of golf.
“We’re working toward peace. Through negotiations, with dialogue, we want to help North Korea of course,” Trump impersonator Russell White said, wearing a sharp suit and blue tie.
White and Kim impersonator Howard X are in Hanoi days before a meeting between the real Trump and Kim, who are to hold a second summit in the Vietnamese capital on Wednesday and Thursday.
Photo: AFP
Although the agenda for the planned summit has not been released, Howard X said that he has a few aims for his pow-wow with the fake Trump.
“Hopefully he can overlook all my nuclear missiles and lift the sanctions,” said the full-time impersonator, who also visited Singapore ahead of the leaders’ meeting last year.
The men have a few non-official agenda items this week too — maybe a massage parlor, a round of golf and hopefully a chance to try some of Hanoi’s culinary delights.
Out of character, the pair said that they can make good money as impersonators, as long as Kim and Trump are in the news.
“The good thing for Kim is he’s always doing something interesting, also Trump,” said Howard X, who charges a minimum of US$3,500 for an appearance and said that he once walked away with US$15,000 for a gig.
However, the work can also be burdensome.
Howard X said that it takes him three hours to perfect the Kim look: carefully manicured hair, thick black glasses and suits from a top tailor in Hong Kong, where he is based.
Although he has mastered the get-up, he is not entirely happy about it.
“Mr Kim please get a proper haircut, this sucks,” he said, standing on the steps of Hanoi’s colonial-era Opera House with black-clad bodyguards and a swarm of media.
As for White, it only takes him 20 minutes to bronze his face — excluding his under-eyes — and gel his blonde hair to look like Trump, who he said is doing a great job.
“You’re doing a difficult job, keep up the good work, we’re going to make America great again,” the Canadian-born full-time impersonator said.
The pair said that they are looking for more impersonators to complete their band of “tyrants,” calling for any lookalikes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) or Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to come forward.
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