Trump's aides have reportedly tried to warn him that Kim may be 'mentally unstable'
President Trump's relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has come a long way since the former mockingly referred to the latter as "Little Rocket Man" and Kim returned the favor by calling Trump a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard."
The two now reportedly exchange what White House officials have deemed "love letters", per The Washington Post. Kim even addresses Trump as "Your Excellency" and Trump reportedly has sent private notes to Kim "raving about how much he enjoys his company."
Publicly, the White House has boasted about the progress Trump has made in negotiating with Kim, in the hopes of getting North Korea to fully discard its nuclear arsenal. But as the second summit between the two heads of state in Hanoi, Vietnam draws nearer, Trump's aides have privately tried to warn the president that Kim is "not a rational actor" and that "he could be mentally unstable", a person present for private White House conversations told the Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Aides also fear that the president is overly concerned with grabbing headlines and that he views the approaching summit as "television-ratings gold", which could lead him to make "impulsive concessions" to the North Korean regime.
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But Trump reportedly remains undeterred about placing his trust in Kim. Read more at The Washington Post.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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