Did Trump Slight Abbas With Kim Jong-Un Comparison?
by Algemeiner Staff
US President Donald Trump appeared to slight Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas — perhaps unintentionally — when speaking to journalists earlier this week about a potential future meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
On Monday — two days before his White House sit-down with Abbas — Trump was asked, during a Bloomberg interview — whether he would be willing to meet with Kim.
“Absolutely,” the president replied. “I would be honored to do it. If it’s under the — again, under the right circumstances. But I would — I would do that. Hey, look, I’m meeting with Abbas on Wednesday, the leader of Palestine.”
Abbas could interpret the answer as meaning that Trump was honored to be meeting with him. The other interpretation is that Trump considers Abbas, like Kim, to be an enemy of America.
As to whether any comparison between North Korea and the PA is fair, the US democracy watchdog Freedom House awarded only 28 points out of 100 to the PA in its 2017 Freedom in the World report (Israel received a score of 80). North Korea got just 3 points.
Did Trump Compare Mahmoud Abbas with Kim Jong-un? Watch the video below (20:30):