Again the president chided North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, asking, ‚Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?‘
President Trump’s latest Twitter attack bashing North Korea’s missile test marks the 17th time the president has tweeted about the secluded nation since taking the oath of office.
Again, the president chided North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, asking, „Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?“ and imploring China to „end this nonsense once and for all!“
North Korea has for years been a favorite punching bag for Trump, who boasts his frequent Twitter outbursts are „modern day presidential.“ Since his inauguration, Trump has boosted his North Korea tweets, stressing the need to solve „the North Korean problem“ and often putting the onus on China to quell the nation’s aggression.
„North Korea is behaving very badly, “ he tweeted on St. Patrick’s Day. „They have been ‚playing‘ the United States for years. China has done little to help!“
In April, he hinted that the Chinese efforts have „not worked out.“
„At least I know China tried!“ he conceded.
Before his ascension to the presidency, Trump’s mentions of North Korea on Twitter served his political aspirations. Since he first mentioned North Korea in 2013, Trump has tweeted about the country 50 times.
He used the country to go after President Obama and his administration in 2013 and 2014. Trump often decried how America was spending money to defend South Korea from North Korea and how China could solve the crisis with „one phone call.“
He repeatedly slammed Kim Jong Un back then, calling him a „man child“ and a „wack job, “ a precursor to the „nut job“ term he used to describe ousted FBI director James Comey.
„Mr. President, it is time to lead on the Korean crisis, “ he tweeted on April 11,2013. „Make a statement from the Rose Garden and send a strong message to the man child!“
He didn’t tweet at all about the country in 2015 before turning up the heat in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. This time he went after his opponent Hillary Clinton.
In late September 2016, he wrote, „Russia has more warheads than ever, N Korea is testing nukes, and Iran got a sweetheart deal to keep theirs. Thanks, @HillaryClinton.“
A month before Election Day, he said plainly, „CLINTON IS WEAK ON NORTH KOREA.“
His first-ever mention of the country came on March 3,2013, when he made a reference to North Korean ally Dennis Rodman, who was twice a contestant on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice reality show.
In 2014, Trump lashed out at Rodman for saying he wanted to accompany Rodman to North Korea. The 2014 tweets showed flashes of future insults he’d use during the 2016 campaign.
„Crazy Dennis Rodman is saying I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Never discussed, no interest, last place on Earth I want to go, “ he tweeted, before saying, „Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on the Apprentice!“
Follow Sean Rossman on Twitter: @SeanRossman
