Trump escalates a war of words with N. Korea
President calls Kim Jong Un a “madman” via Twitter, announces sanctions
President Donald Trump escalated a war of words with North Korea on Friday, calling Kim Jong Un a “madman” who would be “tested like never before,” the latest in a potentially dangerous exchange of threats that included the North Korean leader calling Trump “deranged.”
The playground-level taunts marked a sudden and potentially alarming turn toward personal enmity between the two leaders, who are still taking one another’s measure. The insults capped a week in which Trump threatened to obliterate the impoverished but nuclear-armed nation to protect the United States and its allies; he also announced sweeping new U.S. financial sanctions.
Diplomats fretted that Trump was making a bad situation worse by threatening military action. North Korea said it is considering how to respond and suggested Friday that it may soon test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific.
The latest exchange began late Thursday, when Kim called Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and referred to Trump’s speech at the United Nations on Tuesday as “unprecedented rude nonsense.”
Name-calling is standard procedure for North Korea, but the kind of direct statement issued in Kim’s name Thursday night is unusual.
Trump responded early Friday via Twitter. “Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!” the president tweeted.
The Trump administration said last week that Trump is merely using the kind of blunt language that the isolated North Korean leader understands. But officials acknowledge that they know little about how Kim perceives the world.
Asian diplomats have warned the United States that the risk is particularly acute if Kim feels he is losing respect with the North Korean military and government elite.
Pentagon leaders also worry that in the current charged environment, either leader or his military might misinterpret the other’s intentions. So far, the White House has pursued a sometimes confusing three-part strategy of tougher economic sanctions, military threats and an offer of negotiations.
The exchange of insults came as China on Friday disputed Trump’s claim that it has joined a new round of punishing economic sanctions against its communist ally.
Unveiling the penalties Thursday, Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered Chinese banks to cease conducting business with North Korean entities. But on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denied that Beijing had agreed to go that far.
“As far as I know, what you have mentioned just now is not consistent with the facts,” spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular news conference in response to a question about Trump’s comments.