Trump Erupts When Asked About Kim Jong Un
US President Donald Trump erupted when asked about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump even shouted at the journalist who posed the question and told her to be quiet.
According to Reuters and HuffPost, the incident took place at the White House on Monday local time, after Trump ordered the Pentagon to ‘significantly reduce’ joint US-South Korea military exercises scheduled to begin on 17 August local time. His stated reasons were the ‘large’ cost of the annual drills and Seoul’s refusal to participate in US military operations against Iran.
During a question-and-answer session at the White House, a journalist asked whether Trump had cut the joint US-South Korea military exercises at Kim Jong Un’s request. ‘Did he specifically ask you to reduce them?’ the journalist asked, referring to the joint drills.
Instead of answering, Trump pointed his finger at the journalist and said: ‘Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!’
‘You are very rude in front of this young man,’ Trump said, turning towards a young boy sitting on a sofa during a casual meeting in the Oval Office. ‘Do you think he was rude?’ the US President asked the boy, laughing slightly.
‘Quiet. What media outlet are you from?’ Trump asked the journalist who had raised the question about Kim Jong Un.
‘I’m from CNN,’ the journalist replied. Variety reported that the journalist was CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.
‘Fake news,’ Trump retorted.
‘I just wanted to follow up on the South Korea question,’ the CNN journalist said to Trump.
‘You are fake news. You are a noisy person. You are a noisy and rowdy person. You are fake news,’ Trump told the CNN journalist in front of other reporters at the White House.
Undeterred by the US President, the CNN journalist asked again: ‘I just want to know whether you have spoken with Kim Jong Un and whether he asked you…’
Trump cut off the journalist’s question and said: ‘Quiet, quiet, quiet. You are a fake reporter and you report fake news.’
The CNN journalist repeated the same question to Trump: ‘I just want to know whether you have spoken with Kim Jong Un, whether he asked you to reduce the military exercises?’
The US President did not answer the question.
On Sunday, Trump instructed the Pentagon to ‘significantly reduce’ the joint US-South Korea military exercises scheduled to take place from 17 August to 27 August. Hours before the drills began, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he was ‘not happy’ the US had agreed to participate, while highlighting the ‘very good relationship’ between himself and Kim Jong Un.