We’ve all been there. We meet someone who charms us, strokes our ego, writes flowery love letters and wins our hearts — and only later do we find out they are coldblooded cheats. Love hurts!
Such seems the case with President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
We can see the attraction and similarities. Both were given a big boost to success by their fathers, both despise the free press, both have elaborate hairstyles. After meeting Kim for the first time on June 12, Trump was smitten by how everyone “stood at attention” when Kim entered a room.
Sure, Kim lies, starves his people and may have killed his half brother and uncle. Who among us is perfect?
Trump’s friends tried to warn him. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently cautioned that Kim is not living up to his word to denuclearize. But love is blind, it seems.
Only days after The Washington Post confirmed last week that U.S. intelligence agencies see signs that North Korea is working on new missiles, the White House revealed that Trump received a second flattering note from the diminutive dictator Trump teasingly called “Little Rocket Man.” Trump tweeted his thanks to Kim “for your nice letter — I look forward to seeing you soon.” Another meeting might be in the works.
After returning home from the June meeting, Trump excitedly spoke of the “chemistry” they had.
“You know he loves his people,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baier, who replied that Kim is “a killer.”
“He’s a tough guy,” Trump responded, before quickly returning to fawning. “Hey, when you take over a country, tough country . . . and you take it over from your father . . . if you could do that at 27 years old, I mean that’s one in 10,000 who could do that.”
When Baier pleaded, “But he’s done some really bad things,” Trump quickly replied, “Yeah, but so have a lot of other people.” Oy. But now it seems Kim has been leading Trump on all along.
Hey, we’ve all been played. Sure, the creeps who led us astray may have had another lover instead of a nuclear arsenal, but the concept holds. Because when you think you’ve found a kindred spirit in this lonely world, what’s a guy to do?
Playwright Mike Vogel blogs at newyorkgritty.net.
