Some thought he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize. On Thursday though, President Trump pulled out of the much anticipated summit with Kim Jong Un citing the hostility of the North Korean leader.
“Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement,” Trump wrote in an official letter, “I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long planned meeting.”
The cancellation is a blow for global security and for the president’s trophy case. While no prize is imminent, Trump’s ego remains intact. At the beginning of the year, the president tweeted that, like Kim, he also has a nuclear button on his desk but “it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his.” Trump doubled down Thursday — albeit in more diplomatic terms.
“You talk about your nuclear capabilities,” Trump wrote, “but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.”
And it’s true, of course. The United States remains the pre-eminent nuclear power with an estimated 6,550 warheads compared to North Korea’s 15. Combined, that’s more than enough to destroy the world several times over.
It seems Trump is coping with his loss of a Nobel by thinking of those nukes. Hopefully Kim spends some time thinking about the U.S. arsenal as well.
