Trump’s extreme narcissism blinds him to the dangers posed by Kim Jong Un

We have just witnessed a “peace in our time” moment as a triumphant Donald Trump announced the achievement of an agreement between himself and Kim Jong Un.

History has taught us that dictators never concede power unless they are forced to do so. They simply add “diplomacy” to their arsenal of weapons – and they know exactly how to use it to their advantage.

Kim Jong Un assassinated his own uncle and brother. He treats his people the way Hitler treated the Jews. He has ridden rough-shod over the human rights of millions of his own citizens. In his prison camps people are starved, and worked until they drop and for women violent rape is a routine event, as is forced, brutal abortions if they become pregnant as a result. He represents the greatest threat to Japan. He’s certainly not a man to be trusted.

Yet Donald Trump thinks his “historic” meeting with Kim Jong Un represents a triumph for himself. His first and last reason for anything he does is to boost his image. This is the mark of a man whose extreme narcissism protects his fragile ego from being shattered by any unsettling stirring of selfawareness.

What has he actually achieved? Kim Jong Un made no promises to abandon his nuclear arsenal in the immediate future, the text of the agreement saying only that “the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”. No mention of verification or inspections.

Trump also threw in an extra, unrequested bonus for Kim when he announced that theuswouldsuspendmilitary exercises in South Korea. Kim Jong Un was given the privilege of shaking hands as an equal with the leader of the world’s most powerful nation.

Trump has given legitimacy to a murderer just days after insulting his closest allies following the Group of 7 summit.

CAROLYN TAYLOR

Wellbank, Broughty Ferry