Watch: Trump Knew KJU Loves Films, So Showed Specially Made Movie at Summit
Though North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is admittedly a man shrouded in mystery, one thing that is fairly well-known about him is his fondness for Hollywood-produced movies, both of the classic film and more modern variety.
It would appear that President Donald Trump bore that tidbit of information in mind in preparation for his Singapore summit with Kim, and utilized that insight rather shrewdly to his advantage.
Trump and his people had a short film produced that resembled a mish-mashed cross-over of a classic Hollywood production, a preview for an epic summer blockbuster flick and an investment pitch for a business meeting, all rolled into one. (It should have had a willing audience. According to a Vanity Fair profile, the North Korean dictator got most of his understanding of the West through entertainment media: “Western influences came through the mediated world of pop culture—movies, television, video games, anything Disney.”)
According to The Daily Wire, the brief clip showed two starkly different versions of a future North Korea — one devastated by war, the other booming with prosperity — and repeatedly asked the simple question, “What if?”
The film switched back and forth from scenes of military units in action and the current desolate state of North Korea to scenes of happy and smiling Korean people obviously enjoying the benefits of a prosperous society.
Noting that “the past doesn’t have to be the future,” the film made clear that it was up to Kim just what sort of future his nation would experience following his summit with Trump.
Kim could return to his bellicose ways of making threats, launching missiles and testing nuclear weapons in even greater isolation, a choice that the film not so subtly warned would result in a conflict that would end Kim as a threat going forward.
Or, Kim could reach out and “shake the hand of peace” offered by Trump and bring his nation out of the dark and into the light, so to speak.
Doing so, the movie made clear, would usher in a new era of “friendship, respect and good will” among Kim’s Asian neighbors and the rest of the world.
It would also provide access to a world of open doors and economic opportunity, including global investment, medical breakthroughs, abundant resources and technological innovations.
In a media briefing after the conclusion of the summit, Trump was asked about the short film and reiterated that it had been shown to Kim as an example of what his nation could look forward to, if North Korea chose to cooperate.
Ever the consummate businessman and real estate developer, Trump even joked about the excellent beaches North Korea has and how they’d make excellent beachfront property for condos and hotels.
“They have great beaches. You see that whenever they’re exploding their cannons into the ocean,” Trump said. “I said, ‘boy look at that beach, wouldn’t that make a great condo behind it… And I explained, you know, instead of doing that you could have the best hotels in the world right there.”
President Trump: "They have great beaches. You see that whenever they're exploding their cannons into the ocean. I said, boy look at that, wouldn't that make a great condo…And I explain, you know, instead of doing that you could have the best hotels in the world right there." pic.twitter.com/eALLwX1p0d
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 12, 2018
For decades, the United States has countered the threat posed by North Korea with our own threats to bomb the communist nation into oblivion.
But that tactic hasn’t brought about the desired result, so the unorthodox businessman-turned-president offered the backward nation a chance to vault into peace and prosperity, if only it will choose to denuclearize and accept the generous offer.
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