Call it the Singapore slam.
Whatever comes from President Donald Trump’s summit in Singapore this week with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, history is likely to remember it standing out for one reason at least:
A fat joke told by the president of the United States, and the expressionless reception it got from his rotund negotiating partner.
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The joke came up as Trump and Kim were about to be seated for lunch on Tuesday, according to USA Today.
Trump watched as the assembled media angled for the best view to record the historic occasion, then he dropped a signature Trump line.
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“Getting a good picture, everybody?” he asked. “So we look nice and handsome and thin and perfect?”
When the camera went to Kim’s face as he listened to the interpretation, it was clear it wasn’t exactly a laugh-out-loud moment for him.
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Trump to photographers: Are you taking good pictures so we look 'nice and handsome and thin?'
Kim Jong-un: … pic.twitter.com/9SupjgBxie
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 12, 2018
Now, to be fair, Trump himself doesn’t exactly cut a svelte figure on the world stage. Though at 6-3, 239 pounds (according to The Washington Post in January) he’s got a considerably larger frame to work with than Kim who stands about 5-8, according to USA Today, and weighs about 300 pounds according to Heavy.com.
(It’s worth pointing out here that Kim runs a country where even the soldiers are starving.)
That’s a pretty substantial body mass index difference between the two men, but Trump could still have meant the line as a self-deprecating joke, not a jibe at the ponderous bulk of the North Korean dictator.
But Kim might not have taken it that way. And a good number of Twitter users didn’t either.
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Many, many Trump haters weighed in, of course. They always do. And naturally they hated it.
But quite a few Trump supporters thought it was funnier than Kim apparently did.
https://twitter.com/91Shahji/status/1006415765082427393
https://twitter.com/issirsa/status/1006428673061335040
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Considering Trump’s sense of humor was honed over decades dealing with some of the biggest egos in the world of business and entertainment, it’s a good chance he knows pretty well how far he can push a joke – even with someone he just met.
But even if it was a jab, it’s not like Kim didn’t have it coming.
He knows he’s not starving to death like the people unfortunate enough to live in the country he rules.
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