Last Updated Jan 2, 2018 9:48 PM EST
President Trump took to Twitter Tuesday night to blast North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he, too, has a “nuclear button” that is “much bigger & more powerful” than North Korea’s. Mr. Trump also wrote that “my Button works!”
“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The president’s tweet came after Kim gave a New Year’s Day address that wished “for peaceful resolution with our southern border,” but that warned the U.S. the “button for nuclear weapons is on my table.” South Korea is expected to host the 2018 Winter Olympics next month.
Tuesday night’s tweet wasn’t the first time Mr. Trump took a jab at Kim on Tuesday, referring to the North Korean leader as “rocket man” in a tweet Tuesday morning. “Rocket man” has become one of Mr. Trump’s favorite terms for Kim.
CBSN political contributors Molly Hooper and Michael Graham joined CBSN’s “Red & Blue” Tuesday night to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s comments.
“When it comes to diplomacy, I don’t know if buttons do very well,” Hooper told CBSN’s Elaine Quijano. “Wasn’t the last button Hillary Clinton and the reset button with Russia? I don’t know if there’s a ‘easy button’ when it comes to any of these things. For some reason … instead of calming things down … Donald Trump may have inflamed things, which is what he likes to do sometimes, but I don’t think Congress responds very well when he does.”
Graham addressed the challenge with Mr. Trump.
“You look at that power of that tool [Twitter] … then you look at him throwing it around. The line is funny … it’s the kind of line I would use in a [Boston] Herald column … he has the power of the presidency,” Graham said. “I don’t have a problem with putting North Korea back on its heels … what a wasted opportunity … these are great one-liners, but let somebody else send them out.”
Graham said that Mr. Trump’s tweets come as entertainment for many of the president’s fans — especially in past comments that he’s said about North Korea including the “fire and fury” remark in August.
“This is the world of social media … Trump speaks social media. He doesn’t speak diplomacy … he speaks social media exceptionally well … so Trump fans would find this conversation kind of off the point.”
Graham took his own jab at Mr. Trump about what he says is the “real” button on the president’s desk.
“He does have a button on his desk, by the way … he pushes it and they bring him a Diet Coke,” Graham said. “He does that apparently 12 times a day … I’m serious. That’s the only button he has.”
CBS News’ Peter Martinez contributed to this report.
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