In the middle of a rant yesterday in which Donald Trump declared that Robert Mueller’s team included “the worst people in the world,” Individual 1 had nothing but praise for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. “He’s got a great personality,” said Trump. “He's a funny guy. He's very smart. He's a great negotiator. He loves his people.”
Trump could not have said it any better. Because, as it turns out, following the last round of negotiations between Trump and Kim, Kim had his entire negotiating team executed.
Bloomberg reports that those murdered apparently include Kim Hyok Chol, who was regarded as North Korea’s top diplomat. He was one of five men put to death. Others, including Kim Jong Un’s former top aide, have been sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor. All of this because North Korea’s leader refuses to accept any responsibility for the failure of the last round of talks. What a funny, smart guy. He really loves his people. To death.
If none of what the funny guy did strikes most people as all that hilarious, there are clearly some who still snickered at this brilliant expression of Kim’s love for his people. For example, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked about rumors that the people he had dealt with had all been murdered, he had a superfunny reply. “It does appear that the next time we have serious conversations that my counterpart will be someone else,” said Pompeo, “but we don’t know that for sure. Just as President Trump gets to decide who his negotiators will be, Chairman Kim will get to make his own decisions about who he asks to have these conversations.”
Pompeo may have delivered that line with a smile, but … he might want to remember that Trump just got through expressing his admiration for Kim before he thinks about his next round of “serious conversations” with North Korea, or China, or Mexico. Maybe Trump will also be making some decisions if those talks don’t go well. Ever been to Fifth Avenue, Mike?