In a post that Trump’s official Twitter account shared earlier today, he called the nuclear-armed head of government “short and fat,” while lamenting the fact that Kim Jong Un, in his wisdom, called Trump “old.” Trump continued to point out that things weren’t his fault, adding: “I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!”
The tweet was sent out in the midst of Trump’s tour of foreign countries in Asia that currently has him in Vietnam. There’s no telling if these remarks will elicit a negative retaliation or response from North Korea, but it’s clear that those remarks were, at the very least, reckless. According to Time, this may be part of Trump’s attempt to rally world leaders into applying more pressure to Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program, coming on the heels of a stern speech that he made to South Korea’s National Assembly on Tuesday. “Do not underestimate us,” he said to the group of dignitaries. “And do not try us. … The weapons you’re acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in grave danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face.”