Trump speculates on 'Christmas gift' from North Korea: 'I may get a vase'
President Trump likes to believe the best of his foreign dictator friends.
In a teleconference to U.S. military members on Tuesday, Trump was asked about the "Christmas gift" that North Korean officials threatened the U.S. with ahead of year-end nuclear talks. And despite the foreboding nature of the comments and North Korea's history of timing nuclear missile launches with holidays, Trump only had positive things to say about the potential gift.
"Maybe it's a nice present," Trump said. "Maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test."
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.
North Korea's Ri Thae Song said earlier this month that "it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get." The comments came amid increasing frustrations over a lack of a breakthrough in nuclear talks between the two countries.
During the Christmas Eve conference, Trump went on to say the U.S. will deal with the surprise, whatever it may be, "very successfully," adding that "everybody" has "surprises" for him and that he "handles them as they come along."
Trump also revealed during the teleconference that he has yet to get a gift for first lady Melania Trump. Perhaps he could get her some flowers for the vase.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.
-
The rise in unregulated pregnancy scansUnder The Radar Industry body says some private scan clinics offer dangerously misleading advice
-
Democrats seek 2026 inspiration from special election routsIN THE SPOTLIGHT High-profile wins are helping a party demoralized by Trump’s reelection regain momentum
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind,’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
