Fox News anchor Bret Baier sat down with President Trump aboard Air Force One on his way back from meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Singapore, and about halfway through their conversation, which aired on Fox News Wednesday night, Baier gently reminded Trump that Kim is a brutal dictator whose country works and starves thousands of political prisoners to death in labor camps, among other horrific human rights abuses.
"You call people sometimes 'killers,'" Baier told Trump. "You know, he is a killer. I mean, he's clearly executing people." Trump said "he's a tough guy" and reiterated his argument that Kim inherited the country from his father at a young age. "So he's a very smart guy, he's a great negotiator, but I think we understand each other," Trump said. "But he's still done some really bad things," Baier interjected. Trump wasn't swayed: "Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done some really bad things."
Along with his "whataboutism to normalize dictatorial brutality," as New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman put it, Trump also talked about his admiration for President Xi Jinping — "He's an incredible guy. You know, essentially president for life. That's pretty good" — and why he wants Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed back in the G7: "If Putin were sitting next to me and we were having dinner, I could say, 'Would you do me a favor?' ... I could ask him to do things that are good for the world." You can watch the entire interview at Fox News.
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