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American journalist Bob Woodward’s book “Rage” Revealing what the White House looks like in the Trump era, it presents details on the strangest diplomatic relations: that of President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Woodward had access to the correspondence between the two and read 25 letters sent by Kim to Trump and vice versa. CNN obtained the transcript of two of these letters.
Donald Trump has previously described these letters as “love letters.” Woodward says the way the two courted the letters was the reason Donald Trump went so far as to publicly mock Kim, calling him a “rocket man,” “fat and tiny” and threatening “fire.” and anger ”, to become the first American president to meet with a North Korean dictator. Woodward also says that the strange letters are filled with “declarations of personal loyalty, the kind that would have been made by the knights of the round table or two lovers.”
In his letters to Trump, Kim addresses the US president with “Your Excellency”, and the text is loaded with metaphors and syrupy texts:
“Even now I cannot forget that moment when I took His Excellency’s hand in that beautiful and sacred place, while everyone was looking at us with great interest. I look forward to reliving the honor of that day, ”Kim wrote to Trump on December 25, 2018, after their first official meeting in Singapore. “Another encounter between His Excellency and myself would be like a scene from a fantastic movie,” adds Kim.
On the other hand, Trump’s responses are a bit more direct, but also full of adulation towards the recipient. On December 28, the US president responded to Kim: “Like you, I have no doubt that a great result will be achieved between our two countries, and that the only two leaders who can achieve it are us.”
Of the 27 letters, only two were delivered to the public by Donald Trump on his Twitter account. Woodward read them all, but could not copy them, only recorded the transcription of the contents for publication in the book.
Donald Trump’s decision to meet with Kim three times, in Singapore, Vietnam and in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas, will undoubtedly be the most notable events of the Trump presidency. The meetings and letters came after a period of significant tension in 2017, when Pyongyang conducted several nuclear tests that it hoped would provoke the United States. Trump always reacted by mocking the North Korean leader with posts on Twitter.
“Being in your presence today was truly amazing!”
After a second meeting between the two in Vietnam, Kim wrote to Trump again in June 2019: “Every minute that I shared 103 days ago in Hanoi was a moment of glory that will remain a precious memory. I also think the profound one. and special friendship between us will function as a magical force ”.
Trump also continued to flatter his North Korean counterpart in another letter in June 2019 sent immediately after the US president proposed a new meeting, this time in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas.
“Only the two of us, working together, can solve the problems between the two countries and end nearly 70 years of hostility, we will bring an era of prosperity to the Korean peninsula that will exceed even the highest expectations, and you will be the only one.” who will guide you. It will be a historic event! “Wrote Donald Trump. “Being in his presence today was really amazing!” Trump continued in another letter, immediately after the meeting between the two. He attached the cover of The New York Times featuring the two, and two days later he sent 22 photos of the meeting to the North Korean dictator: “These photos are a great memory to me and capture the unique friendship between us.” .
However, the relationship between the two also experienced difficult times. Disappointed that the US military exercises with South Korea have not stopped, Kim wrote to Trump again, behaving like an “angry boyfriend”: “I am offended and do not want to hide these feelings from you. I am very, very upset. Your Excellency. I am extremely proud and honored to have a relationship where I can send and receive such heartfelt thoughts. “
How Donald Trump came to have a “magical friendship” with Kim Jong-un
Trump and Kim began writing after a period of severe tensions in 2017, when North Korea began to escalate its challenges. The constant nuclear tests and the aggression of the regime have received a childish response from Trump: The president of the United States has begun to mock Twitter and call Kim “the little rocket man.”
In other, more aggressive messages, Trump threatened to unleash “fire and rage like the world has never seen before,” alarming members of Trump’s national security team because it seemed the United States was rapidly approaching a nuclear war with Korea. North. Woodward says Jim Mattis, then secretary of defense in the Trump administration, told the president that “harassment and public humiliation are second-class behavior.”
In his interviews with Woodward, Trump says with conviction that his decision to meet Kim face-to-face has led him to avoid war. Critics of Trump, however, say that meetings with the North Korean dictator have only given him legitimacy on the international stage and that Trump has not even succeeded in obtaining the denuclearization of North Korea.
Trump’s strategy to denuclearize North Korea was to invite Kim to a movie
To persuade Kim to abandon the nuclear facilities, which Trump told the North Korean dictator that he “knows everything, down to the smallest detail,” the US president courted him intensely. When he finally saw there was no way to convince him, Trump changed his approach: “Don’t you want to do other things than launch rockets into the air? Don’t you want to go to the movies together? Shall we play a round of golf?”
After Woodward obtained the correspondence between Trump and Kim, the US president called him to warn him, in January 2020: “You cannot insult Kim! I don’t want to get into a fucking nuclear war because you insulted me! “
Editor: Adrian Dumitru
