‘Caught on tape’: Video of Trump saying he wants ‘his people’ to treat him like Kim Jong Un goes viral
Former president Donald Trump gushes with childish envy over North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in a resurfaced video clip from 2018, reigniting concerns about his transparent authoritarian leanings.
In a well-covered clip when it first arrived, Trump is heard responding to a reporter’s question about potentially inviting Kim Jong Un to the White House. “Could happen, yeah I would have him,” Trump says, before adding the kicker: “He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
The video’s timely reemergence comes at a charged moment in his campaign. However, Trump is barely challenged within the Republican party over his authoritarian language. Vice President Kamala Harris touched on this during the recent presidential debate, asserting that “dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again because they’re so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favors.”
While Trump later claimed he was “kidding” about wanting Americans to treat him like North Koreans treat Kim, the comment fits a problematic pattern of him expressing a weird and undemocratic admiration for authoritarian leaders. Trump’s conspicuous and unmitigated tendency to “say the quiet part out loud” has been a hallmark of his political career, usually leaving his supporters scrambling.
A BBC report suggests Kim Jong Un is absolutely keen, almost giddy, about a Trump return to the White House. Ri Il Kyu, a high-ranking North Korean defector, told the BBC in August that Pyongyang views Trump’s potential reelection as “a once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity.”
It is apparent the North Korean administration sees Trump as a loud fool and believes they can—hold up now, see if you heard this before—leverage Trump’s unmanaged ego for a favorable deal in nuclear negotiations. The notion foretells a dystopian future: in contrast to Trump’s inflated and false self-image as a high-level negotiator and his boasts of an allegedly warm relationship with Kim, the North Korean regime sees him as malleable and easily manipulated, like most other, more reputable international leaders.
Some politicos argue that Trump’s base will dismiss it as old news or another example of the media taking him too literally. Others contend that the short video is a chilling reminder of what a second Trump term might entail in the context of Trump’s recent rhetoric about retribution and expanding executive power.
The resurfaced clip underscores Trump’s often alarming approach to foreign relations, and swing voters (if there is such a thing) will ultimately have to grapple with the implications of the return of an already problematic former president who has man-crushes on international leaders displaying authoritarian tactics.
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