Donald Trump is being criticized for boasting about his good relations with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The former president told podcaster Tim Pool that his predecessor, Barack Obama, warned him that North Korea posed “the greatest threat” facing the nation.
But Trump said he turned things around with his personal approach to Kim.
“It came down to something very beautiful, the way it happened, and I got along very well with him,” Trump said in an interview published Monday, saying that if Hillary Clinton had won in 2016, the world would have instead faced nuclear war.
Trump noted that he and Kim exchanged insults at first, but then their relationship “transformed.”
“He respected me, I respected him,” Trump said, calling Kim a “very smart, very strong guy” and the “absolute leader” of his country.
Trump has repeatedly praised Kim and praised his relationship with the dictator, at one point saying “we fell in love.”
Trump told author Bob Woodward that he had “chemistry” with Kim.
“The word chemistry. You meet someone and you have good chemistry,” he said. “You meet a woman. In one second you know if everything is going to happen or not.
However, Kim rules one of the world’s most closed countries with an iron fist, using public executions, forced labor camps, political prisons and torture against those perceived as a threat.
Trump’s critics have accused him of cozying up to a brutal regime:
What he admires most about Kim is that he is the “absolute” leader of his country, so anyone who questions him will be imprisoned or executed. https://t.co/vBddKuOEUO
– Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 28, 2024
REMINDER: Kim Jong Un is a DICTATOR, not a democratic President. Anyone who disagrees with him is imprisoned or executed. He has no opponents or vice president. He manages everything. This is EXACTLY what Trump wants. I guarantee you, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, think… https://t.co/5xClowAKtX
– Dark Brandon (The 46) 🇺🇲 (@ajalexander944) May 28, 2024
I prefer my president who doesn’t praise dictators.
-Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) May 28, 2024
Wow. Trump just congratulated Kim Jong Un AGAIN: “My relationship with Kim Jong Un was very beautiful. We got along very well. I got along very well with him. A very strong guy. He is the absolute leader of his country. I prefer leaders who don’t praise dictators. pic.twitter.com/C1yvWVIs6k
-Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) May 28, 2024
They say narcissists are attractive.
– AmericasBurner (@AmericasBurner) May 28, 2024
yahoo
