Donald Trump is under fire from Republicans for complimenting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un after his country was admitted to the board of directors of the World Health Organization.
“Congratulations to Kim Jung Un!” the former president wrote on Truth Social, misspelling his name while sharing news of the admission.
The post drew immediate condemnation from GOP presidential candidates and state party leaders.
“Kim Jong Un is starving his own people”, Nikki Haley, former Trump ambassador to the UN and opponent of 2024 said on Twitter.
“It’s a complete joke that North Korea has a leading role at the World Health Organization.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp writing: “Taking our country back from Joe Biden doesn’t start with congratulating North Korea’s murderous dictator.”
Kim Jong Un is starving his people.
It is a complete joke that North Korea has a prominent role at the World Health Organization.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) June 2, 2023
Larry Page, former GOP Maryland Governor also ridiculed Mr. Trump: “Kim Jong Un is an enemy of America who threatens peace and freedom. The fact that Trump delusionally thinks otherwise makes him a useful idiot for China and unfit to be president.
Mr Trump enjoyed a warm relationship with during his one-term tenure, frequently praising the 39-year-old despot and becoming the first sitting US leader to visit the isolated communist country.
He boasted of having exchanged “love letters” with Mr Jong-Un, who frequently threatens the United States and its allies with nuclear attack.
Others highlighted the uniqueness of their relationship.
“Donald Trump fangirling over a dictator like Kim Jong Un feels very good for a budding dictator like Trump,” one Twitter user job.
Donald Trump praised Kim Jong-Un for admitting North Korea to WHO board
(Associated Press)
Dr Jong Min Pak this week became the first North Korean official to be appointed for a three-year term on the WHO’s board.
“It means that one of the world’s most horrific regimes is now part of a group that sets and enforces the norms and standards of global health care governance,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel. Neuer, in a statement.
“This is an absurd episode for a key UN agency that badly needs soul-searching and reform.”
The others to join the board are Australia, Barbados, Cameroon, Comoros, Lesotho, Qatar, Switzerland, Togo and Ukraine.
Several recent appointments of serial human rights abusers to leadership positions in international organizations have also been condemned.
Russia took over the UN Security Council in April, while Iran chairs the 2023 UN Human Rights Council Social Forum.
A South Korean lawmaker said this week that Mr Jong-Un was obese and suffered from severe insomnia and alcoholism.