Trump Confuses Totalitarian North Korea with Democratic Ally South Korea in Gridiron Club Remarks
During his comedic speech at the Gridiron Club dinner Saturday night, President Donald Trump appeared to mix up North and South Korea when bragging about speaking to one of the countries.
New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer reported Monday that Trump made a comment about “de-nuking” where he suggested he’d spoken with North Korea — but that conversation actually took place with South Korea.
“It was headed for disaster and now we’re talking,” Trump said during the dinner. “They, by the way, called up a couple of days ago; they said, ‘We would like to talk,’ And I said, ‘So would we, but you have to denuke.'”
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency claimed that Trump actually spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, rather than Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea.
South Korea, the Intelligencer noted, does not have nuclear weapons. The U.S. ally was also the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics that ended just over a week ago.
