Just let North Korea have nukes

Kim Jong Un is acting rationally about nuclear weapons. Is Trump?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with senior military staff.
(Image credit: REUTERS/KCNA)

President Trump is in New York for his first speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations, an event at which representatives from all the world's nations will get the opportunity to see him in person, turn to each other, shake their heads, and say, "Can you believe this guy is the most powerful person on Earth?"

According to reports in advance of Trump's address on Tuesday, much of his attention will be focused on North Korea, a subject about which he has been unusually belligerent of late. While we don't yet know exactly what he'll say, everything we've heard from him and other administration representatives leads us to expect lots of tough talk, and only the remotest connection to reality.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.