Now Trump tells Kim: ‘Maybe we could be friends’
DONALD Trump has softened his “fire and fury” threats to North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-un, holding out the hand of friendship yesterday.
He took to Twitter to say that they could perhaps one day be friends after North Korean state media labelled him a “lunatic old man”.
Mr Trump, on tour in Asia, wrote: “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.”
The comment came after the rogue state labelled the 12-day five-nation tour a “warmonger’s visit”. It also described the former property magnate as a “dotard”.
Mr Trump retaliated after attending the AsiaPacific Economic Co-operation summit in Danang, Vietnam.
Seaking later in the country’s capital Hanoi, the President said it “would be very, very nice” if he and Kim could become friends.
He said: “That might be a strange thing to happen but it’s a possibility. If it did happen it could be a good thing I can tell you for North Korea, but it could also be good for a lot of other places and be good for the rest the world.
“It could be something that could happen. I don’t know if it will but it would be very, very nice.”
The president arrived in the Philippines capital Manila yesterday for the last stop of his Asian tour.
Mr Trump, who met President Rodrigo Duterte, will try to alleviate his anti-American sentiment and his enthusiasm for better ties with Russia and China.
Mr Trump also said he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s claims that the Kremlin did not interfere in the US election.
He told reporters on Air Force One: “He absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.
“I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.”