Trump continued to play with the stability of the entire planet on Tuesday by once again lashing out at North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Twitter.
“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,'” he wrote. “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
"This is a tweet that could lead to confrontation and maybe even war."
NBC News' National Security Analyst Jeremy Bash on @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/29AUHkAYMH
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— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 3, 2018
Trump’s tweet was in response to comments Kim made Monday during his New Year’s Day address. “The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality,” he said.
During an interview on NBC’s Today show, national security analyst Jeremy Bash said Trump’s “juvenile” and “destabilizing” tweet could have dire consequences.
“Kim Jong-un is far more likely to lash out — to attack South Korea, to attack Japan, to use his chemical weapons, maybe to even fire a missile at our base in Guam, so I think this is very destabilizing, and this is a tweet that could lead to confrontation and maybe even war.”
Roughly at around 1:30am E.T., Kim gave the order to make contact with South Korea on a hotline that had previously been dormant for years. The two countries communicated twice. There is currently no information on what was discussed, but some analysts are looking at it as a diplomatic breakthroughs; others have suggested that it might be a ploy to drive a wedge between South Korea and the U.S.
