President Donald Trump told veteran journalist Bob Woodward that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thought former President Barack Obama was an "a------."
Trump used many expletives to defend his relationship with the dictatorial leader in conversations for Woodward's upcoming book, the Washington Post reported.
The book, "Rage," includes the first reported excerpts of letters between Trump and Kim. The Post offered snippets from the letters.
In the letters, Kim touted his meetings with Trump, describing them as a "precious memory" that showed how the "deep and special friendship between us will work as a magical force." Kim told Trump he wanted to hold an additional summit with him that would be "reminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film."
In one of the letters, Kim said to Trump, "I feel pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as Your Excellency." And in a separate letter, Kim said he hoped to "relive" the honor of "that moment of history when I firmly held Your Excellency's hand at the beautiful and sacred location as the whole world watched with great interest."
Trump's meetings with Kim, while historic, have yielded few positive results. Critics of the president contend he helped legitimize one of the world's most repressive rulers by offering him a photo-op, receiving little in return.
The president has held two formal summits with Kim as well as an impromptu meeting at the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea. The meetings were meant to foster the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but that has not yet occurred. Pyongyang continues to engage in aggressive activities, making US allies in the region nervous.
But Trump in his conversations with Woodward maintained that his meetings with Kim were a "big f------ deal."
Trump has boasted about his relationship with Kim on multiple occasions, once stating that he and the North Korean letter "fell in love" over Kim's "beautiful letters."
But Trump on Monday went after John Bolton, his former national security adviser, for criticizing the dynamic between him and Kim.
"Just heard that Wacko John Bolton was talking of the fact that I discussed 'love letters from Kim Jong Un' as though I viewed them as just that," Trump said Monday. "Obviously, was just being sarcastic. Bolton was such a jerk!"
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