Un-believable Trump praise
PREZ ADMIRES DICTATOR
Obviously, he’s a pretty smart cookie. PRESIDENT TRUMP
PRESIDENT Trump praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a “pretty smart cookie,” but added he “would not be happy” if the rogue strongman conducts another nuclear test.
Trump, during a wide-ranging interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” actually complimented the unpredictable Kim, whose recent missile tests have prompted strong condemnation from the White House and other world leaders, for having held on to power after assuming it at such a young age.
“People are saying, ‘Is he sane?’ I have no idea. I can tell you this, and a lot of people don’t like when I say it, but he was a young man of 26 or 27 when he took over from his father, when his father died. He’s dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular the generals and others,” Trump said.
“And at a very young age, he was able to assume power. A lot of people, I’m sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it. So obviously, he’s a pretty smart cookie,” he added.
“But we have a situation that . . . we cannot let what’s been going on for a long period of years continue,” Trump said, referring to escalating nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the apprehensive fallout around the world.
“If he does a nuclear test, I will not be happy. And I can tell you also, I don’t believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy, either,” Trump said.
When host John Dickerson prodded to see whether that meant Trump was considering military action, the President indicated he hadn’t ruled it out.
“I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see,” he said.
Other top White House advisers, meanwhile, took a tougher approach Sunday.
National security adviser H.R. McMaster said the North Korean regime “poses a grave threat to the United States, our great allies in the region, South Korea and Japan . . . but also to China and others.
“This is something that we know we cannot tolerate . . . . The President has made clear that he is going to resolve this issue one way or another,” McMaster said on “Fox News Sunday.”
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, during an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” added that “there is nothing right now facing this country and facing the region that is a bigger threat than what’s happening in North Korea.”
And Sen. John McCain (RAriz.) said the U.S. should not rule out a preemptive strike on Pyongyang.
“I think that we have to consider that option as the very last option, and for a number of reasons,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined the list of world leaders who have put Kim on notice.
Turnbull on Monday warned North Korea that Australia “will not tolerate reckless, dangerous threats to peace around the world.”
On Saturday, North Korea fired another midrange ballistic missile, but it failed shortly after launch — the third test-fire flop this month.
The regime’s refusal to stop testing missiles has prompted Trump to deploy a nuclear-powered submarine and the aircraft supercarrier Carl Vinson to Korean waters.
The U.S. and South Korea have also started installing a missile-defense system designed to be partly operational within days.