Donald Trump has been made an honorary black belt by the South Korean president of taekwondo – despite never having practised the sport.

The former president was handed the honorary rank by president Lee Dong-sup at his home in Mar-a-largo, Florida.

He was given an honorary ninth dan certificate – the highest level in the sport.

The sporting body wrote on its Facebook page that Mr Trump said upon receiving the award: “It is my honor to receive Honorary Dan Certificate and I think Taekwondo is magnificent martial art for self-defense.

“I wish to see Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team’s demonstration.”

The organisation added that the ceremony was “not related to any other political issues”.

The award means he now has the same rank as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was made an honorary ninth dan in 2013. President Putin had also not practised taekwondo at the time of the award.

Kyle Rittenhouse: Protesters clash with police as anger and division grows over teenager acquitted after killing two people

Steve Bannon: Former Trump adviser surrenders to FBI over contempt charges related to Capitol riot investigation

Donald Trump reaches $375m deal to sell Washington DC hotel – reports

This means both now rank higher than US martial artist Chuck Norris, who is an eighth dan black belt.

The news has been criticised by some, with one Twitter user writing: “As someone who actually earned their blackbelt in TKD, I’m not happy about this. 9th degree is grandmaster rank. Unbelievable.”

The walls of Mr Trump’s office were adorned with photographs of his time in office – including when he met the Queen, shaking hands with Kim Jong Un, and an image of him and Melania walking to greet the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in June 2019.

Related posts:

Disaster declared in Texas as rare winter storm sees temperatures plummet to -5C George Floyd: Police officers investigated after ‘you take my breath away’ Valentine report Olympic champion ‘wouldn’t let daughter become gymnast’ after abuse scandal Tiger Woods back home ‘working on getting stronger every day’ after horror crash Biden’s 100m vaccine roll-out is major success – but there are reasons to be cautious ‘I don’t give a hoot’: Kurt Cobain’s self-drawn caricature sells for more than $281,000 Around 2,000 evacuate as huge Oregon wildfire torches area larger than New York City Baby among at least 64 dead and 105 missing after devastating Kentucky tornadoes Derek Chauvin admits for first time that he kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck US airlines warn 5G could ground planes and cause ‘chaos’ British man shot dead during Texas synagogue siege ‘was known to MI5’ Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers seek retrial over sex-trafficking case