rant · moment 3 of 15

North Korea, Kim Jong Un's Nuclear Poker, and Trump's Bluff

from Alt Ass Eating · #57

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

3 min

They debate whether Trump's unpredictability could actually be useful leverage against North Korea, riff on Kim Jong Un always looking like he's having a party, and question whether the whole crisis is being hyped like a pre-Iraq war drumbeat.

In this bit8 moments
  • 4:47Trump could actually be good at dealing with North Korea, despite Tim not backing him overall.
  • 4:59The uncertainty of what Trump will do—whether he'd nuke North Korea or New Jersey—might actually be an advantage in negotiations.
  • 5:41Think tank analyses assume North Korea won't respond to U.S. aggression, but they're written without accounting for Trump's unpredictability scaring them.
  • 6:04Trump might have been a president specifically suited for nuclear war bluffing.
  • 6:28Kim Jong Un won't start a nuclear war because he has self-interest in keeping his regime alive, despite being psychotic.
  • 6:54Photos show Kim Jong Un always smiling like he's having a party—planning nuclear wars is literally his lifestyle.
  • 7:22Everyone accepts claims about North Korea having working nuclear weapons without questioning whether this is another pre-war propaganda push like Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • 7:37Nobody's asking if someone actually wants a war with North Korea in the first place.
Mentioned here

Donald TrumpNorth KoreaKim Jong UnCouncil on Foreign Relations

All 15 moments in this episode →