Donald Trump opens his mouth and makes his North Korea debacle even worse
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that North Korea has begun rebuilding a satellite launch site, either right before the summit that “President” Donald J. Trump attended, or just after. There was a photo that was an overhead satellite image showing such developments in the story.
However, Trump, who has told his Cult 45 followers not to believe what they see or hear, but trust him only, has now stated that he does not believe such reports. According to Kaitlin Collins on Twitter, citing pool reporter Peter Baker, we have a president who is once again denying that one of his BDFF (Best Dictator Friends Forever) is doing something that is wrong:
Asked about the report of North Korea rebuilding missile test facilities, President Trump said he would “be very disappointed if that is happening,” but added, “It’s a very early report.” Per pooler @peterbakernyt
Trump: “I would be very disappointed in Chairman Kim but I don’t think I will be.”
Why Trump refers to it as “a very early report” is beyond comprehension. Not only is the Washington Post reporting from sources who have reviewed the activities, but they literally have a satellite photo showing there has been activity. For example, Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar quoted in the referenced article, noted that some imagery that was “low-resolution imagery” showed some activity in the period between February 18 and February 22, but that the satellite images make clear what was happening. Lewis stated, “It’s not great news. They may have known the summit was not going to go well.”
Again, we have Donald Trump arguing that what we see is not what is happening, presumably because his BDFF Kim Jong-Un told him so and what reason would he have to lie? We continue to be under the leadership of a dangerous man who apparently will not believe calamity is about to hit until too late to address.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.