Kim Jong Un’s flattering letters to Donald Trump revealed in Bob Woodward’s book

New details have emerged about the rollercoaster relationship between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, including what the couple said to each other behind the scenes when their diplomatic summit in Hanoi fell apart last year.

Veteran political journalist Bob Woodward, who you may remember for his reporting on the Watergate scandal, describes the evolution of the Trump-Kim bromance in unprecedented detail in his new book, Rage.

You may recall that said bromance got off to a rather curmudgeonly start, with Trump and Kim exchanging youthful insults – “silly,” “little Rocket Man,” etcetera – and increasingly ominous threats.

Well, the book includes the shocking revelation that the United States and North Korea were actually “much closer” to war than anyone realized in the early days of the Trump administration.

Six days into his presidency, Trump met with Matt Pottinger, who is now the White House deputy national security adviser but at the time was the chief of policy for Asia.

The president told Pottinger that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had identified North Korea as the “biggest and most dangerous” problem he would face in office. He asked for advice on how to handle it.

Pottinger gave little thought to Obama-era strategy, which in his view essentially came down to the United States waiting for the Kim regime to collapse on its own. He drew up several less passive options for Trump to consider.

In March 2017, the president opted for one of them, described as a “maximum pressure” policy. According to Woodward, that meant “economic, rhetorical, military, diplomatic and, if necessary, covert action.”

“The campaign was designed to show Kim that he was in greater danger and would pay a higher price with nuclear weapons than without them,” he writes.

Meanwhile, Trump’s defense secretary James Mattis considered possible military operations and plans were quietly drawn up for “covert action to overthrow” Kim, should the president decide to give the order.

Tensions between the United States and North Korea increased steadily throughout 2017.

General Mattis slept in his clothes in case he had to suddenly join a top-secret conference call. A flashing light was installed in his home bathroom so he would know immediately whenever North Korea launched a missile, even if he was showering.

And privately, the defense secretary wrestled with the moral implications of potentially having to order a nuclear strike.

Several arson incidents passed without much notice from the rest of the world, including a simulated US Air Force attack on September 25, in which more than 20 aircraft crossed the Northern Boundary Line separating North Korea and North Korea. South in the sea.

The situation was so tense that South Korea’s National Security Council sent a message to the United States suggesting it might have gone “too far.”

“I understand that we really came close to war with North Korea,” Woodward said during one of his 18 interviews with Trump.

“Right. Much closer than anyone could imagine. Much closer,” confirmed the president of the United States.

Of course, things calmed down, and a year later Trump was bragging to the crowd at one of his political rallies about the “beautiful letters” that Kim had been sending him.

“I like it. He likes me. I guess it’s okay. Can I say that?” he said.

“I was being very tough and so was he. And we were going from one place to another. And then we fell in love. No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters. They were great letters. And then we fell in love.”

A couple of those letters have already gone public, but Woodward managed to get his hands on 25 others. He describes them as “flowery and bombastic.”

In mid-2018, shortly after the two leaders’ first diplomatic summit in Singapore, Kim was in full adulation mode.

“I am pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as His Excellency,” he wrote to Trump on July 30.

“It has been 200 days since the historic summit in Singapore last June, and the year is almost coming to an end,” he said on December 25.

“Even now I cannot forget that moment in history when I firmly held His Excellency’s hand in the beautiful and sacred place as the entire world watched with great interest and hope to relive the honor of that day.

“As I mentioned at the time, I am very honored to have established an excellent relationship with a person like His Excellency.

“As we enter the new year, no doubt the whole world will see again, not far in the future, another historical encounter between myself and His Excellency that recalls a scene from a fantasy movie.”

That second historic meeting took place in February 2019. Trump went to Hanoi in hopes of reaching a substantial denuclearization deal with Kim. But during a two-hour meeting between the couple, everything fell apart.

Woodward writes that Kim offered to dismantle one of his nuclear weapons facilities, the Yongbyon Nuclear Science Research Center, but refused to budge on four others. Trump was not satisfied.

“Listen, one doesn’t help and two don’t help and three don’t help and four don’t help. Five do help,” Trump told him.

“But it’s the biggest,” Kim protested.

“Yes. It is also the oldest. Because I know each one of the sites. I know them all, better than any of my people, I know them. You understand,” Trump said.

Kim still refused to budge. The president briefly tried another tactic.

“Have you ever done more than launch rockets into the air? Let’s go see a movie together. Let’s play golf,” he suggested.

Nothing yet.

“He’s not ready to make a deal. He’s not there,” Trump finally concluded.

“I have to go. You’re my friend. I think you’re a wonderful guy. But we have to go, because you’re not ready to make a deal.”

After Hanoi, the letters between Kim and Trump became less frequent, although they remained full of compliments.

“As I told you when we parted ways, you are my friend and always will be,” Trump wrote on March 22.

“Hanoi was a moment of glory that remains a precious memory,” replied Kim.

“Such a precious memory that I hold in my unwavering respect for you will give me an impetus to follow in my footsteps when we walk towards each other again some day in the future.

“I also believe that the deep and special friendship between us will function as a magical force.”

In June 2019, the two men met in the Joint Security Area, in the demilitarized zone. Trump became the first US president to set foot in North Korea.

“Even the media, who always like to say that everything is wrong, are congratulating you for inviting me to your country,” Trump wrote afterward.

He attached a copy of the front page of the New York Times, on which he had scrawled with his trademark black marker: “President, great picture of you, great moment.”

However, things turned sour. On August 5, Kim sent Trump the diplomatic equivalent of a breakup repentance note. He was angry that the United States had continued to participate in military exercises with South Korea.

“I’m clearly offended and I don’t want to hide this feeling from you. I’m really very offended,” Kim said.

“I am immensely proud and honored to have a relationship where I can send and receive such heartfelt thoughts with you.”

When Woodward sat down for his first interview with Trump in December 2019, the president ordered an aide to bring photos of his meeting with Kim at the JSA.

“This is him and me,” he said.

“That’s the line, right? Then I walked over the line. Pretty good. You know? Pretty good. Right? That’s the line between North Korea and South Korea. That’s the line. That’s North Korea. and from the South “.

“That’s the line. That line is a big problem. No one has ever crossed that line. Never.

“He likes me. I like him. We get along. That doesn’t mean he’s naive. That doesn’t mean he thinks, oh, he’s going to be wonderful. He’s a very tough person. And he’s smart. , very smart.”

“Are you convinced he’s smart?” Woodward asked.

“More than smart,” Trump responded.

He acknowledged that Kim was “violent and cruel.”

“I know all about him. He killed his uncle and put the body right on the steps where the senators came out. And they cut off his head, sitting on the chest. Do you think that’s hard? You know, they think politics It’s hard in this country, “he said, and stressed that Kim” tells me everything. “

“(Speaker of the House of Representatives) Nancy Pelosi said, oh, let’s impeach him. Do you think that’s difficult? This is difficult. These are great photos. Look, did you ever see him smile? Did you ever see him smile? smile before? “

Perhaps it was an odd show, given that Kim is well known for sporting a broad smile in propaganda photos, but Trump was obsessed with it.

“Look, look at the good image,” Trump continued.

“He’s having a good time, you know? No one has seen him smile. Look. Look at him smiling. He’s happy. He feels happy.”

This strange emphasis on Kim’s smile persisted in the following interview, where Trump gave Woodward a poster-size photo of himself alongside the dictator.

“He never smiled before. I’m the only one he smiles with,” he said.