Donald Trump Congratulates Kim Jong Un, Faces Backlash From Republicans

Donald Trump shared his congratulations for Kim Jong Un on his social media platform, Truth Social, earlier this week, sparking bipartisan backlash. In doing so, Trump shared a link to the news that the World Health Organization has admitted North Korea to its executive board.

“Congratulations to Kim Jung Un!” Trump wrote. The post was quickly met with backlash from several other voices in the Republican party. Georgia governor Brian Kemp later tweeted: “Taking our country back from Joe Biden does not start with congratulating North Korea’s murderous dictator.”

Donal Trump Meets Kim Jong Un

PANMUNJOM, SOUTH KOREA - JUNE 30 (SOUTH KOREA OUT): A handout photo provided by Dong-A Ilbo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the South and North Korea on June 30, 2019 in Panmunjom, South Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un briefly met at the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) on Sunday, with an intention to revitalize stalled nuclear talks and demonstrate the friendship between both countries. The encounter was the third time Trump and Kim have gotten together in person as both leaders have said they are committed to the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula. (Handout photo by Dong-A Ilbo/Getty Images)

Trump's former lawyer Jenna Ellis also responded to the post: “Donald Trump is running to the left of Ron DeSantis, RFK, and now Joe Biden? We don’t have a pro-Kim Jung Un lane in the GOP. What has happened to Trump?” Nikki Haley, who previously served as Trump’s former UN ambassador and is currently running against him in 2024, wrote: “Kim Jong Un starves his own people. It’s a total farce that North Korea has a leading role at the World Health Organization.”

Donald Trump famously became the first sitting US President to meet with a dictator of North Korea back in 2019. He reflected on his relationship with Kim Jong Un during an interview in April. "It started off rough, remember that? I was saying ‘little rocket man’ and he was saying ‘I've got a red button on my desk, and I’m willing to use it,'" Trump recalled. "And then all of a sudden we get a call — they want to meet. We would have had that whole situation straightened out shortly after the beginning of my second term."

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