Engaging with Russia and North Korea, and “getting along” with them, would be a “good thing,” former US President Donald Trump has argued.
Speaking at an election rally in Pennsylvania on Friday, the Republican nominee touted his diplomatic efforts to fix Washington’s ties with Pyongyang, referring to his 2019 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
“I got along with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Remember I walked over… the first person to ever walk over from this country,” Trump claimed.
“We also looked at his nuclear capability. It’s very substantial,” he added. “You know, getting along is a good thing. It’s not a bad thing.”
“Getting along” with Moscow is also not “a bad thing,” Trump said. He went on to harshly criticize the incumbent administration, claiming President Joe Biden has a very low IQ “and maybe now it’s nonexistent,” as he has “completely lost his mind.”
The Republican nominee repeated his claim that “what is happening now in relations with Russia would not have happened” if he were still in office.
Trump’s remarks came in response to accusations from his election rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. In her Democratic nomination acceptance speech in Chicago last week, she criticized the former president for his relations with the North Korean leader – claiming she would not “cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump.”