‘I think he loved it’: Donald Trump says Kim Jong-un was impressed by his odd, Hollywood-style propaganda video
‘It is striking that the video contains open threats that failure to make a deal will lead directly to war and conflict,’ said one observer of the video
When US President Donald Trump sat down to make the case for peace to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, he rolled out what amounted to a film trailer starring the two leaders.
Trump said he urged Kim and other North Korean officials to watch a four-minute video produced before the Singapore summit, and that they huddled around an iPad to watch the video, which appeared to draw more from the hype of Hollywood than the careful language of diplomacy.
“I think he loved it,” Trump said, referring to Kim, adding that he gave the North Koreans their own copy.
The video mixes both Hollywood and propaganda film tropes that play over a pulsing orchestral score.
It appears to be composed almost entirely of generic stock footage and old news clips, including images of Trump and Kim smiling. There is an English language version and one in Korean, the narrator having a South Korean accent.
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At one point, it features a montage with babies and car factories, suggesting what a more prosperous future for North Korea could look like if it agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal. To illustrate the point, ballistic missiles are shown in reverse motion, pulling back into their launch silos.