Trump Doubles Down on North Korea Threats While His Aides Praise Him: A Closer Look

-President Trump doubled down today
on his escalating war of words with North Korea.
It's a tense situation
which might explain why Trump is now relying on his aides
for the one thing he values most --
stroking his fragile ego.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
As you recall, tensions with North Korea
were simmering at a moderate heat
until Trump decided to crank up the burner
with this reckless comment on Tuesday.
-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.
-Even Trump is scared by what he's saying.
Look at him, he's literally hugging himself.
[ Laughter ]
You know, maybe if someone else had hugged him 65 years ago,
we wouldn't be here right now.
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ] But I for one --
I for one am glad he's finally scaring himself
as much as he's scaring the rest of us.
"Fire and fury like the world has never seen.
Oh, why did the president just say that?"
[ Laughter ]
Almost immediately after that comment,
the adults around Trump tried to tamp down the rhetoric.
First up, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
-I think what the president was just reaffirming
is the United States has the capability
to fully defend itself from any attack and defend our allies.
And we will do so.
So the American people should sleep well tonight.
-"Sleep well tonight"?
We haven't been sleeping well since November.
Tossing and turning
has officially passed baseball as America's pastime.
[ Laughter ]
Other Trump aides even went a step further than Tillerson,
essentially telling the rest of the world
not to take Trump seriously.
One aide told a reporter for Politico...
Don't worry, nobody has ever read into
what this President says.
He's not "The Da Vinci Code."
There are no secret clues.
"Hm, haters and losers --
what could he have possibly meant by that?"
[ Laughter ]
So naturally, hearing that some of his aides and advisers
might have been trying to tone things down,
Trump went back in front of the cameras today
and doubled down,
insisting that his original "fire and fury" comment
might actually not have been strong enough.
-For people that were questioning that statement,
was it too tough?
Maybe it wasn't tough enough.
So if anything, maybe that statement wasn't tough enough.
-Not tough enough?
What would be tougher than fire and fury?
Fire and fury and bees?
[ Laughter ]
2 Fire, 2 Furious?
[ Laughter and applause ]
What's crazy about all of this
is that the original comments
that Trump is now doubling down on
were improvised on the spot
during a briefing on the opioid crisis.
In fact, the paper he seemed to be looking at
wasn't even a scripted statement on North Korea,
it was a fact sheet on that crisis.
And you can you tell Trump was familiar with the facts
from the ingenious plan he came up with
for stopping the opioid epidemic.
-Talking to youth and telling them
"No good, really bad for you in every way.
But if they don't start, it will never be a problem."
-You know, if you don't want people to start taking drugs,
stop making them think the end of the world is imminent.
"I will rain hellfire on my enemies
until no man but me is left standing
on the burning heap of what was once civilization.
Also, say no to drugs, kids."
[ Laughter ]
"They're bad."
[ Applause ]
And while some --
some of Trump's advisers may be trying to calm things down,
the more unhinged members of his staff
are only matching Trump's threats
with even more outlandish statements,
like assistant to the president Sebastian Gorka,
who said this on Fox News.
-He's saying don't test America and don't test Donald J. Trump.
We are not just a superpower. We were a superpower.
We are now a hyperpower.
[ Laughter ]
-A hyperpower?
Why don't you throw your time machine into hyperpower,
and go back to when goatees were popular?
Gorka went on to ratchet up the rhetoric even further
by comparing the North Korea situation
to previous nuclear confrontations
and insisting that all Americans should support Trump
whether they agree with him or not.
-These are the moments when
we have to come together as a nation
and support the executive.
These are the trying times.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, we stood behind JFK.
This is analogous to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
-He's right.
This is just like JFK's handling
of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Who can forget JFK's stirring words
that calmed the fears of a worried nation?
[ Cheers and applause ]
-But even members of Trump's own party
are deeply skeptical of his reckless threats,
partly because they don't fully understand what they even mean.
Take Arizona Senator John McCain
who said he took exception to Trump's remarks.
Asked specifically about the fire and fury comment,
McCain said of Trump...
Senators now treat the words of the president
the way New Yorkers treat subway announcements.
"I think he said this train is now skipping every stop?
I don't know. As long as it goes somewhere."
So what is Trump saying?
Well, it might be instructive
to look at his past statements on the issue
to understand his thinking.
For example, a clip of Trump talking about
North Korea's weapons program back in 1999 has resurfaced.
And let's just say it does not inspire a lot of confidence.
-You say that you as President
would be willing to launch a preemptive strike
against North Korea's nuclear capability?
-First, I'd negotiate.
I would negotiate like crazy.
-And in fairness, he's keeping his promise.
He's negotiating like a crazy person.
He's negotiating with Kim Jong-Un
like he's Riggs from "Lethal Weapon."
-Do you really want to jump?
Do you want to?
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ]
-And Wilkerson isn't the only one criticizing Trump.
There's retired general Wesley Clark,
who is similarly alarmed
at Trump's handling of the situation.
-You can't be engaging in schoolboy rhetoric
with North Korea.
This is absurd.
-Well of course he's going to.
He's Donald Trump. He's the schoolboy in chief.
He literally bragged about how great of a whiner he is.
-I am the most fabulous whiner.
I do whine because I want to win.
I am a whiner, and I'm a whiner,
and I keep whining and whining until I win.
-That of course is from the famous Dr. Seuss book
"Whining and Winning."
"I whine and I whine and I whine till I win.
And I'll whine once again till I double win-win."
[ Laughter ]
So with the president facing a growing credibility crisis
and new challenges presenting themselves every day,
it's perhaps no surprise that Trump's team
is looking for a new communications director
after the firing of former
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Spicer, for his part,
seems to be enjoying his newfound freedom.
On Saturday, he was spotted at Fenway Park
enjoying a Boston Red Sox game.
And just to make sure he felt at home,
the Red Sox gave him a seat
where Spicer was most comfortable.
[ Laughter ]
So who is in line
to become Trump's next communications director?
Well, according to reports...
Steven Miller?
He doesn't look like a communications director.
He looks like a funeral director.
[ Laughter ]
He looks like a haunted painting
whose eyes follow you around the room.
Oh!
[ Laughter ]
And Miller definitely seems to be auditioning for the job
because he went on Fox News this week
to publicly stroke Trump's ego
by lavishing praise on him with this outlandish comment.
-President Trump is the most gifted politician of our time,
and he's the best orator to hold that office in generations.
-Ugh. Could Steven Miller be any creepier?
I bet he doesn't even call Trump Mr. President.
He just calls him master.
He probably lives under the stairs with Eric.
[ Laughter ]
"Father, thank you for bringing me a friend!
Come, Steven.
Let me show you where I keep my rocks!"
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
So whether it's Miller or someone else,
whoever does get the communications job
will apparently have some very demeaning tasks to complete,
tasks specifically designed to soothe Trump's fragile ego.
For example, Vice News reported yesterday that...
Why go through the trouble printing stuff out
when you can hand him a Post-It Note that says
"Your penis is fine"?
Also, there are no pictures of Trump looking powerful.
Whenever Trump makes a serious face,
he looks like he's trying to remember
if he closed the garage door.
[ Laughter, applause ]
"It's closed."
So Trump's own aides are telling voters
and world leaders to ignore him.
And now Trump's closest confidantes
seem to be planning ahead for the possibility that
he might not even run for re-election.
It was reported last week that Vice President Mike Pence
was positioning himself to run in 2020.
And while Pence denied that report,
new excerpts from former Communication Director
Anthony Scaramucci's vulgar interview
with The New Yorker seems to confirm it.
Scaramucci was referring to Pence's decision to appoint
a political operative named Nick Ayers
as the new chief of staff.
He told The New Yorker...
[ Laughter ] Oh, he can't?
Mike Pence can't believe it?
Did you not hear about the "Access Hollywood" tape
or the Trump University fraud lawsuit
or calling Mexicans rapists or the Russian entanglements?
Mike Pence knows exactly what's going on.
He agreed to play backup quarterback
to a guy with two bad knees who only throws interceptions.
Bull[bleep] Mike Pence can't believe it!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Sorry.
Just I haven't --
I haven't slept since November.
This has been "A Closer Look."

Trump Doubles Down on North Korea Threats While His Aides Praise Him: A Closer Look

Latest Posts