Once again the epic battle of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un rages after the North Korean leader revealed he has a “nuclear button” on his desk ready for use.
The sentiment of much of the reaction to the US President’s response yesterday – that he had a “much bigger one” – was eloquently summed up by author Chuck Wendig.
JESUS CHRIST ON A CROISSANT THIS IS NOT PRO WRESTLING YOU DISEASED FUCKING TESTICLE THIS IS NUCLEAR WAR AND WINTER YOU ARE JOKING ABOUT AHHHHHHH pic.twitter.com/IsPyWal652
January 3, 2018
Quite.
Setting aside the fact we’re talking about two world leaders threatening each other with nuclear annihilation, there were a few humorous gems amongst the fear and desperation.
1) This Vision Of A Trump Supporter’s Dystopian Future
DID YOU GET THE DOUBLE MEANING THERE WHEN I SAY BUTTON I’M ACTUALLY REFERRING TO SOMETHING ELSE SOMETHING THAT ISN’T A BUTTON IN MY PANTS IT’S MY GENITALS (PENIS) https://t.co/eNL2QEgary
January 3, 2018
Please don’t make me picture your “Button.” …also don’t start a nuclear war, you “Buttonhead.” https://t.co/kfFvLkBMk4
TRUMP IS A NUT JOB WHO IS PLAYING,“WHOSE ?IS BIGGER“,WITH ANOTHER NUT JOB FROM N.KOREA‼️TRUMP MAY GET US INTO A WAR,WITH HIS 12 YR OLD BOY ”NANNY,NANNY,NANNY“ TWTS‼️ THEY’RE PROBABLY BOTH THE SIZE OF “ TOM THUMB”
January 3, 2018
McDonald’s leader Ronald just stated he has a “burger on his desk at all times”. Will someone from his big shoed, red nosed regime inform him that I too have a burger on my desk, but mine is a box meal which is bigger and more powerful than his, and mine has gravy! #nuclearbutton
January 3, 2018
Dear South Korea, We understand how you feel, sharing a border with a lunatic and his #NuclearButton Sincerely, Canada
Child: What caused the Nuclear holocaust? Teacher: We elected an angry hotel-manager who used America’s nuclear arsenal for a literal *****-measuring contest.#NuclearButton https://t.co/TGaJywDPhc
January 3, 2018
#Nuclearbutton The face you make when you travel 150 years into the future and you discover that Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States. #ImpeachTrump #Impeach45 #Resist pic.twitter.com/pNNyPdVP96
January 3, 2018
The button we know about on the President’s Desk summons a valet with a Diet Coke, but doesn’t launch a nuclear missile. pic.twitter.com/DuAdC0knmY
What if Donald Trump gets confused with the nuclear war button on his desk with the someone get me a Diet Coke button on his desk?
I forgot I had the Make Trump Tweets 8 Again plugin installed. Makes it so much better. #Trump #NuclearButton pic.twitter.com/qvVzx24fKu
Trumpy and Kim Jong Un are each bragging the size of their own #NuclearButton Can’t we just give each of them a bell instead? pic.twitter.com/qz4j9HEuja
In all seriousness though, there are obviously some serious issues at play here.
Despite Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear button threat he also offered an olive branch to South Korea, saying he was “open to dialogue” with Seoul.
I’ve read Un’s New Years statement… I think it’s official, our leader is the more unstable one. In Un’s New Year’s statement there was a sliver of hope for talks. A tiny olive branch was hidden deep within his rhetoric and Trump just shit all over it. #Impeach https://t.co/45emRWMtNz
January 3, 2018
After a year dominated by fiery rhetoric and escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Kim used his televised New Year’s Day speech to declare North Korea “a peace-loving and responsible nuclear power” and call for lower military tensions on the Korean peninsula and improved ties with the South.
“When it comes to North-South relations, we should lower the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula to create a peaceful environment,” Kim said. “Both the North and the South should make efforts.”
Two days later on Wednesday it was announced North Korea had reopened a long-closed border hotline with South Korea.
US officials responded sceptically, saying Washington would not take any talks between North and South Korea seriously if they did not contribute to denuclearising North Korea.
A State Department spokeswoman said North Korea “might be trying to drive a wedge of some sort”.