It seems halfway plausible that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump would feel like he is fast friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s supporters could understand one autocratic leader being best buds with another. But Trump winning backing from North Korea?
That may be a hill too far for even the most ardent Trump people. This week the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party praised Trump in an editorial as a “wise politician,” adding that the billionaire as president could be good for North Korea.
Keep in mind that Trump back in February attracted praise from well-known white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and it took Trump way too long to denounce Duke’s support. With North Korea’s backing, Trump’s attraction to the bizarre and profane goes international.
The New York Times reports that the North Korean praise was because of Trump’s threat to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea if he were elected president, saying the longtime U.S. ally isn’t pulling its share of the freight. U.S. troops have strategically been in South Korea since fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953.
An uneasy peace remains between North Korea and South Korea with occasional flare-ups. Trump telling Reuters in an interview that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Kim Jong-Un is beyond disturbing.
North Korea has nuclear weapons. It also has missiles that it tests frequently.
China has been powerless to stop North Korea’s saber rattling. Russia can’t put a lid on it. What makes Trump think he has the mojo to make North Korea play nice?
A lot of North Korea’s launches are huge failures, like the one that the communist country set off Tuesday.
But they are international attention-getters, which is another thing Trump has in common with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Kim also is buds with another attention sponge — former NBA star Dennis Rodman — who has made trips to North Korea to visit his friend, that country’s erratic leader.
Rodman, noted for his many tattoos and multicolored hair, has also endorsed Trump.
In the same North Korean editorial, the commentary called Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton “dull.”
As former secretary of state under President Barack Obama, she would be the kind of U.S. leader who’d keep North Korea in check.
People who might be looking curiously at the North Korean foray into American politics should simply consider the source, shrug and note it as one more untoward notch in Trump bizarre march to the Republican convention.
Lewis Diuguid is a columnist for the Kansas City Star. Readers can email him at ldiuguid@kcstar.com.
