President Trump said Monday that he wasn’t worried whether North Korea violated international agreements with its missile tests, further separating from his advisers.
“I view it differently,” Trump said in a press conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. “I view it as a man — perhaps he wants to get attention, and perhaps not. Who knows? It doesn’t matter.”
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said over the weekend that he believed that North Korea’s missile tests violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, after Trump stirred up controversy by saying that he wasn’t disturbed by the tests and that he’d laughed at an insult directed by North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un at former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump acknowledged Monday that Bolton disagreed with him but downplayed the significance of the split. He reiterated his criticism of Biden, faulting him for the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran.
“Kim Jong Un made a statement that Joe Biden is a low-IQ individual,” Trump said. “He probably is, based on his record.”
And Trump argued that Kim would back down in the interests of economic development. He noted that North Korea has “unbelievable economic potential,” given its location.
“It’s all waterfront property,” he said. “It’s a great location, as we used to say in the real estate business.”
