It’s not unusual for President Donald Trump and North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un to banter like a pair of school children. What started as a series of childish insults escalated to something more serious yesterday.
On Saturday North Korea released a statement calling President Trump a “dotard,” which means a very old person. Trump quickly responded to the insult with the following tweet,
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 then called for Trump’s death in response to the insult. An editorial published in Rodong Sinmun, the state newspaper, called Trump a “hideous criminal” for turning the world against North Korea. The statement continued (translated),
“The worst crime for which [Trump] can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership … Trump, who is no more than an old slave of money, dared point an accusing finger at the sun.”
The paper also called Trump a coward for canceling a surprise visit to the DMZ. According to Fox News, the President’s visit was postponed due to bad weather. “It wasn’t the weather. He was just too scared to face the glaring eyes of our troops,” the editorial stated.
While a friendship between the two leaders seems even more unlikely at this point, we’re keeping our fingers crossed.