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Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s insults to each other in years leading up to Singapore summit

FROM ‘rocket man’ to ‘dotard’, ‘sick puppy’ and their big button battle, the twisted relationship of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has been fraught with insane insults.

EXPLAINER: On the eve of the summit: A look back at Australia's ties to North Korea

FROM “rocket man” to “dotard” (what?) “sick puppy” and their big button battle, the twisted relationship of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has been fraught with insane insults.

The US President appears to have started the insults with a bang, calling the North Korean dictator a “maniac” before he even became leader of the free world.

The pair would soon become the ultimate arch nemesis’, making headlines almost daily with their angry and hateful tirades towards each other.

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‘Kim is a sick puppy.’ Picture: AP/Evan Vucci
‘Kim is a sick puppy.’ Picture: AP/Evan Vucci
‘Trump has desperate mental state of a loser.’ Picture: Ju Peng/Xinhua
‘Trump has desperate mental state of a loser.’ Picture: Ju Peng/Xinhua

Trump: ‘You have this maniac sitting there’

September, 2015

At a Republican presidential debate, Mr Trump launched one of his first insults at Kim. “Nobody ever mentions North Korea where you have this maniac sitting there and he actually has nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and perhaps a couple of other places. But certainly North Korea.”

Trump: I would get China to make this dude disappear

February, 2016

The then presidential candidate said he would work with emerging superpower China to deal “economically” with the rogue Asian nation.

“I would get China to make that guy disappear in one form or another very quickly,” Mr Trump told CBS, fresh off his victory in New Hampshire’s primary.

When asked if was calling for Kim Jong-un’s assassination, the billionaire businessman shrugged.

“Well, you know, I’ve heard of worse things, frankly. I mean this guy’s a bad dude — and don’t underestimate him,” he said.

Trump: ‘Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?’

July, 2017

After the reclusive regime successfully launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile in July last year, the US President took to his preferred platform, Twitter, to mock the North Korean leader. The missile flew for 37 minutes and reached a height of 2414km before it plummeted into the sea near Japan.

Trump: ‘They will be met with fire and fury’

August, 2017

Mr Trump made these alarming comments while on vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He launched the attack after several threats from North Korea. “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening … and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

Trump: ‘Rocket man’

September, 2017

Arguably the US President’s favourite insult, Mr Trump coined “rocket man” in September, 2017, after a chat with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in about how to deal with the rogue nation. But it wasn’t the only time Mr Trump pulled the comment out of his insult arsenal. The spicy quip made an appearance in his speech to the UN General Assembly where he vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea, and again in November, 2017, after the President heard North Korea’s Foreign Minister speak at the UN.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.

Kim: ‘He’s a mentally deranged dotard’

September, 2017

‘You called me what?’. Picture: AP
‘You called me what?’. Picture: AP

It was the insult that had the world madly googling the word “dotard” — which in fact means someone in a state or period of senile decay marked by a decline of mental poise, by the way.

Despite the word among the “bottom 30 per cent” of commonly used words, Kim fired the insult in September, 2017, after Mr Trump’s speech to the United Nations.

“Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say,” Kim said.

Trump: ‘I would never call him short and fat’

November, 2017

Mr Trump launched this epic schoolyard taunt toward Kim in November, after the North Korean government called him an “old lunatic” following the president’s stern speech at South Korea’s National Assembly, where he made efforts to rally global support their nuclear weapons program. “Do not underestimate us. And do not try us … The weapons you’re acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in grave danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face.”

Trump:Kim a ‘sick puppy’

November, 2017

Mr Trump escalated his war of words with Kim, referring to the North Korean dictator as a ‘sick puppy’ at a rally in the US. After saying his new tax proposal would serve as “rocket fuel” for the American economy, Mr Trump took a passing shot at Kim calling him a “lil rocket man,” and adding: “he is a sick puppy.” The remarks came on the back of Pyongyang’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Trump: ‘My button is bigger than yours’

January, 2018

Probably one of his most infamous outbursts toward North Korea, Mr Trump started a ‘mine is bigger than yours’ war on Twitter, reacting to Kim’s comments in his New Year’s speech about his nuclear button always being on his desk.

Kim: ‘The desperate mental state of a loser’

January, 2018

Kim Jong-un. Picture: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service
Kim Jong-un. Picture: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service

North Korea’s official news agency swiftly responded to President Trump’s controversial tweet about his ‘big nuclear button’ describing it as the “spasm of a lunatic.”

“Trump’s bluff is regarded by the DPRK as just a spasm of a lunatic frightened by the might of Juche Korea and a bark of a rabid dog,”

“The spasm of Trump in the new year reflects the desperate mental state of a loser who failed to check the vigorous advance of the army and people of the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.) He is making (a) bluff only to be diagnosed as a psychopath.”

Kim: Trump’s ‘dirty body woven with frauds and sexual abuses’

February, 2018

Pyongyang’s propaganda magazine, a renowned mouthpiece for Kim, published a piece in February that said Mr Trump “cannot deodorise the nasty smell from his dirty body woven with fraud, sexual abuse and all other crimes.” The confronting editorial was issued on the back of news Mr Trump would consider a pre-emptive strike on the hermit state.

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/donald-trump-and-kim-jonguns-insults-to-each-other-in-years-leading-up-to-singapore-summit/news-story/f1cccddd5099e4ccc46eeef1e7aeb85e