Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations was, by any measure, a complete disaster.
World leaders, and Trump’s own chief of staff, looked on in
stunned horror as Trump
threatened nuclear war with North Korea,
bragged about his electoral college results, and
echoed propaganda from Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s address earned bad reviews at home, too. Journalists panned the speech as “
menacing” and “
needlessly offensive.” Hillary Clinton thundered that the speech was “
dark and dangerous,” and former Obama press secretary Josh Earnest condemned the speech for having no “
coherent strategy.”
But Trump is not able to accept criticism. Which is why he took to Twitter Wednesday morning to claim that it is actually the Clintons who are to blame for tensions in North Korea:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After allowing North Korea to research and build Nukes while Secretary of State (Bill C also), Crooked Hillary now criticizes.</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/910453612630900736">September 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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In fact, while Bill Clinton’s efforts to thaw relations with North Korea did ultimately break down, North Korea’s first nuclear test
occurred under George W. Bush.
And while the
previous three presidents did threaten defensive action against North Korea, none of them ever baldly stated they would “totally destroy” the country. Trump has dangerously and needlessly escalated tensions to a new level.
Trump did not stop there. He went on to retweet a supporter accusing President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton of “in effect” giving nuclear weapons to North Korea through “appeasement,” despite the fact that, again, North Korea had nuclear weapons before either took office, and the Obama administration spent eight years
choking North Korea with sanctions.
It is clear that Trump’s basic instincts to engage in reckless bellicosity, latch on to anything and anyone who praises him, and blame others for his ineptitude are never going to change. His behavior in the aftermath of his U.N. debacle is typical form.