Does President Trump know who the leader of North Korea is?

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 18 April 2017

Tensions between the United States and North Korea have been steadily rising, with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer declaring Monday that America is not "taking options off the table" when it comes to handling North Korea's escalating aggression. Only, what might make the situation especially concerning is that President Trump appears to not even know who is in charge of the country, as writer Ana Marie Cox recently pointed out on Twitter:

Trump [...] made two references in the interview to "this gentleman" in North Korea, who he said had "outplayed" both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The late North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il died in 2011. His son, Kim Jong Un, is the country's current ruler."But, you know, they've been talking with this gentleman for a long time," Trump said. "You read Clinton’s book, he said, 'Oh, we made such a great peace deal,' and it was a joke. You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybody has been outplayed, they've all been outplayed by this gentleman. And we'll see what happens. But I just don't telegraph my moves." [Talking Points Memo]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.