Trump credits his 'little rocket man' Twitter taunts for leading to the Kim summit


After President Trump sat down with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in a historic summit, he energetically praised Kim's love for his people, the beautiful beaches of North Korea, and his own foreign policy acumen, claiming that his Twitter tirades against the dictator were a deliberate plan that paid off.
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump explained that when he was tweeting about his "bigger" nuclear button and calling Kim "little rocket man," he was really executing a long-term strategy to get Kim to come around to the idea of denuclearization.
"Well, I think without the rhetoric we wouldn't have been here,” Trump told Hannity. “I really believe that." Trump blamed "other administrations" for relying on a "policy of silence" to deal with North Korea. "That's not the answer. That's not what you have to do," he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Just ahead of the "chat among friends," Hannity used the same argument as Trump to explain how he so successfully navigated the U.S. to its first meeting with North Korea. "The liberal policy of appeasement of, well frankly, ass-kissing and ring-kissing, and bowing before dictators and despots, it doesn't work," said Hannity on his radio show.
Trump patted himself on the back for sticking with his strategy even though he "felt a little embarrassed" about his aggression toward Kim. "I hated to do it," he said. "Sometimes I felt foolish doing it. But we had no choice." Watch the interview below, via Fox News. Summer Meza
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
'Trucking is a dangerous business'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Higher toy prices from Trump's tariffs have arrived
In the Spotlight Three out of four toy products in the US come from China
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump