When Kim Jong Un returned from the summit in Singapore, he received a hero’s welcome in Pyongyang. Walking across the red-carpeted tarmac, the North Korean dictator was flanked by a saber-wielding dragoon, saluted by a military honor guard standing almost impossibly ramrod straight, and fawned over by a chattering gaggle of generals. It was a disgusting show of authoritarian pomp and despotic circumstance.
President Trump woulda loved it.
Trump fantasized about getting that dictatorial treatment during an impromptu interview with “Fox and Friends,” because when the North Korean leader speaks, he told Peter Doocey Friday, “his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
Trump now says he was “kidding” when he says he wants “my people” to sit up at attention like people do for Kim Jong Un.
“I’m kidding, you don’t understand sarcasm,” Trump says
— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) June 15, 2018
The president tried to play it off as a joke immediately afterward during a press gaggle. Even if it was a quip, the comment suggests that Trump just doesn’t grasp the awesome power that comes with the office. Trump can obliterate the globe in a matter of minutes as commander in chief. Trump can bankrupt or enrich entire economies in an afternoon with his trade authority. Trump can reorder the world stage in a couple of weeks with his political clout.
The fact is, Americans already sit up at attention for Trump. In fact, for the last 500 days, the entire world has been sitting on edge following every tweet, every leak, and every statement. That Trump doesn’t recognize this suggests that Trump still doesn’t understand the massive power of the presidency. He is more powerful by orders of magnitude than the chubby dictator from the hermit kingdom.
