Donald Trump praised a letter from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Friday – moments before he told the press he hadn’t yet read it.
As NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell pointed out on Saturday, it’s hard to know how Trump could describe the letter as “nice” or “interesting” without ever having read it yet.
“I haven’t seen the letter yet,” Trump said moments after calling the letter “nice” and “interesting.”
Video of the president’s contradicting statements:
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Trump calls Kim Jong Un’s letter to him ‘nice’, then admits he hasn’t read it yet. #ctl #p2 #Trump #NorthKorea pic.twitter.com/sjnK2k9W6C
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) June 2, 2018
Trump contradicted himself instantly:
A letter was given to me by Kim Jong-un. And that letter was a very nice letter. … It was a very interesting letter. …  I haven’t seen the letter yet. I purposely didn’t open the letter. I haven’t opened it. I didn’t open it in front of the director. I said, would you want me to open it? He said you can read it later. I may be in for a big surprise, folks.
Trump isn’t even on the same page as himself
As O’Donnell noted on Saturday, Trump’s statement “begs the question: How could it be a nice and interesting letter if he had not yet read it?”
On its face, Trump’s contradiction may seem like small potatoes, but it’s just part of the larger pattern of erratic behavior by this president.
Frequently, Trump says something in one breath that is either contradicted or disproven by something he says in the next breath. He has simply given up pretending to care about the truth.
As The Washington Post noted this past week, Trump has told more than 3,000 lies since taking office in 2017 – an average of 6.5 per day.
This combination of erratic conduct and pathological lying should bring pause to anybody with high hopes about Trump’s upcoming summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
