President Donald Trump taunted Kim Jong-un on Tuesday in response to the North Korean dictator’s speech on New Year’s Day, in which he had warned, “The entire mainland of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear weapons, and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office.”
Trump replied that his own nuclear button was “much bigger,” more powerful, and fully functional:
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
Trump’s tweet is just the latest salvo in the colorful war of words between the two leaders. Last year, President Trump called Kim Jong-un “Little Rocket Man.” In November, Trump went further, calling him “short and fat.”
Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me “old,” when I would NEVER call him “short and fat?” Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
North Korea has reciprocated with insults — which have also been humorous, albeit unintentionally so. The regime referred to Trump as a “dotard” several times last year, reviving an obscure and somewhat archaic English term for an old person.
Trump’s left-wing critics pounced on his tweet. Ben Rhodes, a former national security aide in the Obama administration, tweeted: “There is no way to rationalize this profoundly juvenile and dangerous behavior.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.