Trump taunts Kim Jong Un: My nuclear button is 'much bigger' than yours

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It's come to this: President Trump is comparing the size of his nuclear button to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's.

In Kim's New Year's Day address, he said the "entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat." Trump waited a day before responding on Twitter, and he was heavy on the caps lock. "Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump wrote.

It wasn't long before a horrified Democratic congressman, Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.), spoke out against the tweet with a message to the public and his fellow lawmakers. "If you love our country, help me put this lunacy in check," he tweeted. "Tell @realDonaldTrump this is not normal behavior. Any @HouseGOP members want to make sure Congress has some say before he pushes that button?"

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.