Trump Reacts to Latest UN Violation by His 'Friend'

President Trump stood up for Kim Jong Un a day after North Korea fired yet another missile into the Sea of Japan, the Hill reports. "These missiles tests are not a violation of our signed Singapore agreement, nor was there discussion of short range missiles when we shook hands," the president said Friday in a three-tweet thread. He acknowledged that North Korea's third missile launch in a little more than a week "may be a United Nations violation"—and it does defy UN sanctions, per Deutsche Welle—but Trump said that "Chairman Kim does not want to disappoint me with a violation of trust."

"I may be wrong," the president continued, "but I believe that Chariman [sic] Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true. He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!" The AP notes that after North Korea's previous launch, Trump had photos of his recent impromptu meeting with Kim hand-delivered to a Pyongyang official. Now Britain, France, and Germany have condemned the missile tests and encouraged North Korea "to take concrete steps towards complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization." (More North Korea stories.)