Patriots: For over 26 years, your generosity has made it possible to offer The Patriot Post without a subscription fee to military personnel, students, and those with limited means. Please support the 2024 Year-End Campaign today.

June 14, 2018

What Did Trump Say? What Did He Mean?

He’s surely guilty of hyperbolic bluster, but what he’s doing is far more important than how he says it.

As that old adage states, “Actions speak louder than words.” But the truth is that words can obscure actions, especially when those words lack context. Such has often been the case with President Donald Trump. There is no question that Trump is prone to bloviating and hyperbole. He uses these verbal techniques to convey either his emotion or his understanding of the significance of an issue. And while there’s much to criticize in what he has said, as has been previously observed, if one genuinely desires to understand and interpret Trump, then take what he says seriously but not literally. Admittedly, this is not always easy to do.

Two of Trump’s recent comments provide a teachable moment. First, in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Air Force One following the Singapore summit, Baier questioned Trump’s complimentary comments on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, noting that Kim “has done some really bad things.” Trump responded, “Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done some really bad things. I mean, I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done.”

Was Trump suggesting that the horrendous human rights abuses perpetrated by Kim’s brutal regime against his own people are simply to be overlooked? That’s exactly the perspective the mainstream media has taken. But in context, what was Trump trying to accomplish? Put another way, how does needlessly offending an admittedly bad guy — which everyone, Trump included, recognizes is the case — do anything to build diplomatic trust and common ground? Trump’s previous “stick” approach pushed Kim to the negotiation table; now he’s offering a “carrot.” Remember, Trump’s primary objective here is North Korean denuclearization, preferably through diplomatic means rather than military force. Trump is not interested here in merely saying the right things; he’s focused on getting the deal done.

The second example felt eerily similar to George W. Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” statement. After arriving back in the U.S., Trump triumphantly declared, “Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” He then added, “Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer — sleep well tonight!”

In fairness, there’s plenty to legitimately criticize in this statement, as North Korea is still far from being denuclearized and still remains a significant threat. And while the Singapore summit was indeed a good first step, as another adage warns, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” Clearly, Trump is upbeat about the progress thus far with North Korea, and he is communicating his confidence that things are going in the right direction. Secondly, he may be responding to all the negative second-guessing and hand-wringing expressed by much of the MSM (and plenty of conservative media) following the summit. As leader of the free world, Trump desires for Americans to feel optimistic about the future, and that appears to be the heart of his message here. Does anyone not believe that Trump wouldn’t quickly swivel and blast Kim if he begins acting in bad faith?

Finally, despite all the MSM bluster over Trump’s historic summit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a bottom-line summary: “Let me assure you that the ‘complete’ [denuclearization] encompasses ‘verifiable’ in the minds of everyone concerned. I am confident that [Kim] understands what we’re prepared to do, a handful of things we’re likely not prepared to do. I am equally confident they understand that there will be in-depth verification. We’re hopeful that we can achieve that in the next two and a half years, something like that. We’re hopeful we get it done. There’s a lot of work left to do.”

In short, Trump is surely guilty of hyperbolic bluster, but what he’s doing is far more important than how he says it.


Update 6/15: Asked why he offered such effusive praise to a murderous dictator, Trump answered, “You know why? Because I don’t want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family.” That about sums it up.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.